The perceived utility of six selected measures of consumer outcomes proposed for routine use in Australian mental health services.

OBJECTIVE

This paper aims to assess the utility of six measures of consumer outcomes: the Behaviour and Symptom Identification Scale, the Mental Health Inventory (MHI), the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Survey, the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales, the Life Skills Profile (LSP) and the Role Functioning Scale previously recommended for the routine assessment in Australian mental health services.

METHOD

Consumers and service providers were invited through focus group discussions and surveys to describe the perceived utility of these selected measures.

RESULTS

All six measures were rated favourably. The qualitative and quantitative findings suggest that the MHI elicited the most positive results of the consumer measures. No observer-rated scale was clearly preferred.

CONCLUSION

The qualitative feedback obtained indicated that process and context issues may be as important to the successful use of routine instruments for the measurement of consumer outcomes in clinical practice as the choice of instrument.