The outcomes of mental health training programs: a review of the literature.

In these times of fiscal austerity, educators are asked increasingly to justify their programs. This review of literature indicates there are few controlled studies focusing on outcomes of mental health training programs, largely because the goals of training programs have been poorly identified and/or infrequently used as a basis for evaluation. In addition, these studies lack adequate criteria of success and standardized measures of success. Educators are, therefore, unable to critically evaluate the impact of the trained worker on patient care.