Model programs for chronic mental patients may be viewed from four
perspectives: evaluation of individual programs, commonalities in
successful programs, generalizability and reproducibility of specific
programs, and relevance of model programs to problems of service delivery
in mental health systems. Although successful model programs share certain
common structural elements, such programs cannot be readily reproduced or
generalized. Having limited value for the problems of service delivery in
mental health systems, model programs are best seen as experimental
efforts, not as solutions. Strategies for translating model-derived
knowledge into systems-related action are needed.Abstract Teaser