Treatment Program Evaluation: Public Health Perspectives on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

This invaluable text provides a rigorous guide to the assessment and evaluation of treatment programs through a multi-disciplinary, holistic model of care. It highlights issues of race, social justice, and health equity, and offers real-world guidance to effect community healing and transformation.

Written by a researcher and experienced evaluator, the book begins by outlining the theories and research which frame our understanding of substance misuse, and upon which treatment programs are based. It then examines the principles which should underpin any evaluation, before detailing the practical various steps required to conduct an evaluation, from data collection to outcome measurement. The book shows, too, through detailed and effective evaluation, policy changes can be made and treatment programs improved. Including practical examples of evaluation and assessment throughout, and also assessing the numerous social systems which can support recovery, the book builds to a four-step public health model for establishing sustainable treatment programs.

In an era where substance misuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and beyond, this book will be essential reading for anyone involved in public health policy and practice in this important area.

Allyson Kelley is the principal consultant and founder of Allyson Kelley & Associates PLLC (www.allysonkelleypllc.com). Allyson supports research, evaluation, training, and technical assistance efforts for several community health initiatives in the United States. Her research interests include building community capacity to address the cultural, social, and environmental factors that contribute to differences in health outcomes among underserved populations in the United States. Allyson is committed to building the next generation of public health professionals and has mentored more than 300 undergraduate and graduate students. Allyson’s goal is to ensure the voices and expertise of underrepresented organizations and minority groups are published and known. She is the author of two books published by Routledge, Evaluation in Rural Communities and Public Health Evaluation and the Social Determinants of Health. Allyson earned her Master’s degree in Public Health Practice from the University of Alaska Anchorage and her Doctorate in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.