What Works!: Innovation in Community Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Programs

Robert B. MacIntyre is head of the Psychoeducational Clinic at the
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

There is considerable variety in this collection of progress reports,
thought pieces, and planning strategies. The editors have accepted a
broad definition of “what works.” Some of the papers describe
attempts to establish systems and data parameters for improving
services. Other papers are more philosophical and academic, discussing,
for example, the application of general principles of Eastern thought to
community health promotion. There are also some (though surprisingly
few) direct descriptions of programs and their outcomes. Most of the
papers were written by staff and consultants working with mental-health
and addiction programs.

That so few papers are devoted to consumer/survivor innovations and
ideas is unexpected in a book that is, in part, a record of responses to
the Graham Report, which called for “a partnership between consumers,
their families, service providers, and government in the planning,
development and delivery of services.” The book indicates the progress
being made toward more localized programs and the planning by service
providers, but suggests that consumers are not yet full partners in
planning.