title: Evaluating improvement over the course of adult psychiatric hospitalization.
abstract: This paper describes an evaluation of the potential efficacy of adult in-patient psychiatric treatment provided at a private general hospital. Using a simple pretest-posttest group design, 78 consecutively admitted patients, and a valid measure of psychiatric symptomatology (Symptom Checklist-90-R), it was found that the diverse group of patients were statistically significantly improved at discharge, relative to their admission status. This study illustrates a practical effort by social workers to integrate simple evaluative efforts into routine clinical services provided by mental health facilities, efforts consistent with managed care, the demands of third-party-payers, and the profession's initiatives in the direction of empirically-based practice.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens 30602, USA.
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Capp
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Thyer
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Bordnick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002835:Christianity; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D016519:Hospitals, Religious; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012949:Social Work, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires