[Mental health department accreditation. Classification and assessment criteria].
OBJECTIVE
To compare different accreditation categories in Italy and to suggest some criteria to assess them.


METHODS
The A. compare specific characteristics of different model of normative and professional accreditation and suggest some criteria to distinguish different type of accreditation programme and to assess quality and usefulness of an accreditation programme.


CONCLUSIONS
Different types of accreditation are attributed to some basic criteria: voluntary/by law, high/low standard, assessment object. Criteria to assess the usefulness are: check list accuracy, support to quality improvement, documental burden, services impact.
Dipartimento di Salute Mentale di Reggio Emilia, Reggio Emilia. gaddomaria.grassi@ausl.re.it
Gaddomaria
G
Grassi
D000068:Accreditation / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000145:classification / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000592:standards*