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The article discusses the study on the importance of the attitudes and perceptions of health service providers for the implementation and delivery of community health services. The study collected data from three sources including a national sample of short term acute hospitals and health departments, from 25 county and four city health jurisdictions and information from administrators of planning agencies serving New York organizations. The findings of the study states that the limited knowledge that many health workers and laymen appear to have about certain health service needs and the operation of the health system and the different perceptions of respondents about the nature and scope of the responsibilities that should be assumed by various health organizations and support agencies.

The provision of family planning services by hospitals and health departments was surveyed by questionnaire to ascertain implementation levels of family planning and referral arrangements, and the role of planning, funding, and regulatory agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of medical care in a changing social system. The concern about the rising cost of medical care and the growing importance of that care makes it necessary to examine the role medical care plays in a complex society. The apparent cause of increasing medical expenses is linked to the increasing demand of better care by the people for their personal well-being. There are a number of forces operating together as medical care costs increase. First, there is the general level of advancement and complexity of the social system itself. Heart lung machines, renal dialysis, and pacemakers are artifacts of highly developed technologies. Advanced technology is the necessary cause of an effective medical care system. At the same time, the increasing complexity of the social system provides the sufficient cause for an increased allocation of resources to medical care. As societies become more complex, they devote a greater proportion of their resources to medical care, but the medical care of all members of a society is not affected equally.

This paper investigates the relationship between attributes of thirty-two innovative health services and their level of implementation in a national sample of hospitals and health departments. It was found that services implemented in hospitals are primarily characterized by high payoff, a low rate of cost recovery, and low social approval. For health department services perceived primarily as having high divisibility, a high association with the preventive orientation of the department, and a relatively low payoff had a high level of implementation. The respective attribute patterns accounted for 58 per cent of the variance in the implementation of health services in hospitals and 50 per cent of the variance in health departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the level of mental health services offered at hospitals and health departments in the U.S. It assess the interest of health planners and administrartors in the development of mental health services. The author has identified the significant community, organization, and personal variables associated with different implementation levels. Services and activities selected for study include outpatient diagnosis, treatment services, inpatient diagnosis and treatment services, follow-up care after hospitalization, integration of mental health services with other health services and the use of indigenous workers for case-finding and information dissemination.

As part of a project involving innovation and diffusion of certain health care programs in hospitals and health departments, this study reports on the introduction of social work in such institutions. It tried to find out how far social work was introduced, the variables associated with implementation, and to evaluate the implications for health planning and administration. The findings are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]