Special Issue on Mental Health Services Research

Abstract

In 1999, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) issued a report titled “Bridging Science and Service,” as a call to the research community to translate clinical research findings and methods into routine service delivery settings for general populations. 1 National Institute of Mental Health: Bridging Science and Service. Rockville, MD, Report No. 99–4353, 1999 Google Scholar This report identified a gap between research aimed at establishing treatment efficacy in select samples and under carefully controlled research conditions, and research testing the effectiveness of interventions in routine care settings with representative populations. Many of the treatments found efficacious in carefully controlled clinical trials are not effectively “translated” into the real world. Bridging this gap, the report concluded, requires the development of applied research methods and a body of knowledge representing a public health perspective. Health services research embraces this perspective by using quantitative and qualitative methods investigating an array of topics bearing on the organization, delivery, and financing of care. 1 National Institute of Mental Health: Bridging Science and Service. Rockville, MD, Report No. 99–4353, 1999 Google Scholar