Attitudes of mental health center staff: changes over a five-year period

The author compares a study of attitudes of staff toward priorities and problems in eight community mental health centers with a study five years later, using the same questionnaire, of attitudes of staff in one of the centers. Between 1968 and 1973 the number of psychiatrists decreased and the number of psychologists and social workers increased. The most significant change in priorities in 1973 was the higher ranking of consultation and education services. While staff saw their problems in 1968 as a diffusion and inadequate program planning, by 1973 they were concerned with administrative problems and with shortcomings in the quality of clinical care, due to a lack of resources.