A review of systematic and quantifiable methods of estimating the needs of a community for alcohol treatment services.
The purpose of this paper was to review a variety of systematic and quantifiable methodologies for planning and evaluating the provision of alcohol treatment services for communities. These methods include: (a) developing and evaluating indicators of alcohol-related harm in and across defined geographic areas, to assess the relative need for services; (b) demand-oriented techniques that involve the prediction of future demand for services based on the previous utilisation of treatment facilities; (c) comprehensive systems approaches to planning services; and (d) the estimation of the prevalence of individuals who need or would benefit from an intervention for their alcohol problem. In practice, service planners may incorporate a combination of approaches that could be compared and contrasted to assess the convergent validity of results. These methodologies can also be used to provide information for planning and evaluating prevention/health promotion and early intervention initiatives.
Crook
G M
GM
Alcohol and Drug Branch, Queensland Health, Australia.
Oei
T P
TP
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000628:therapy; D001315:Australia; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D006285:Health Planning / Q000379:methods; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration