How to evaluate mental healthcare models

Background: One of the main measures of improving the quality of mental healthcare in Europe is to promote the implementation of effective healthcare services. The evaluation of such healthcare models is needed to assess their effectiveness and efficiency. Objectives: The article points out the main methodological challenges of demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of mental healthcare models. Results: Implementing healthcare models is complex and includes several components and a high number of confounding variables. This makes it difficult to identify the “active ingredients”. The range of evaluation criteria is wide. Therefore, it is crucial to define the main aim of the intervention clearly and to choose evaluation assessments with relevance for these aims. Conclusion: Addressing the question how to evaluate mental healthcare models, evaluation studies have to provide information not only about the chosen evaluation criteria but also about the context, in which a healthcare model works.