The validity of assessing mental health needs with social indicators.
Selection of the appropriate number and types of social indicators for use in mental health planning has been a perennial problem. Social indicators have been associated with several concepts (quality of life, community disorganization, populations at risk) of varying relevance for planning mental health services, and abstracting social indicators from these conceptual domains poses a variety of validity issues. The issues are discussed, and the viability of social indicators in mental health planning is reexamined.
D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003710:Demography; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000379:methods*; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States