Background:
Maccabi Health Services provides its members with access to mental health services through a nation-wide network of independent psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. Over 40,000 members make use of these services each year. To date, no systematic surveys have been carried out regarding the members' experience with these services.
Objectives:
1) To analyze members' satisfaction with the service as a whole and key components of the service (e.g. choice of therapists, therapists' professionalism, therapists' attitude, waiting times, treatment duration, etc.)
2) To explore the extent to which members are interested in strengthening the links between the mental health services and primary care in Maccabi
3) To explore members' perceptions of how their mental health, overall well-being and day-to-day functioning have changed in the wake of treatment
To explore the reasons why many members terminate treatment after the first one or two visits or after 5-6 visits.
Methods:
The questionnaire will be based on the validated and widely used ECHO-3 instrument, which will be expanded and adapted to meet Maccabi's needs. The study population would include all Maccabi members who began mental health care during the second half of 2008, and 1,000 members who meet the study criteria will be sampled. Data would be collected via a phone survey, to be carried out approximately 6 months after the member had completed the course of therapeutic care. In addition to analyzing the experience of all Maccabi members' as a group, analyses will also be carried out by region, members' age and sex, and type of provider.
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