USING NATURALISTIC AND ECONOMIC-EVALUATION TO ASSIST SERVICE PLANNING - A CASE-STUDY IN THE UNITED-KINGDOM

This article reports the results of a case study that evaluated a psychogeriatric service in the United Kingdom The case study was an attempt to develop a methodology combining naturalistic and scientific approaches to assist the management of a public sector service. Use was made of stakeholder analysis and naturalistic evaluation to complement an economic, cost effectiveness analysis to enable a service strategy to be developed. The approach was found to be of benefit in the areas of extending access to decision making and improving the information used but was expensive to support and required a high level of commitment and a willingness to compromise from all stakeholders.