The role and use of consumer satisfaction surveys in mental health services

Abstract

The role and use of consumer satisfaction surveys to evaluate mental health services is examined. Although satisfaction would appear a useful way of evaluating outcome and monitoring service quality significant methodological shortfalls severely limit the conclusions of many studies. Issues of reliability and validity are seldom considered, response rates are low, and studies are typically one-off events which render comparisons between or within services extremely difficult. Recommendations for future research are highlighted in order to address these issues.