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Treatment accountability requires careful examination of the components of milieu therapy to ensure quality care and the provision of an environment in which there exists a relative "goodness of fit" between the patient and setting. As one means of studying this matter, a standardized questionnaire was independently administered to the students and staff of a long-term residential facility for emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. Results indicated that such data can be used to (1) assess the characteristics of the milieu setting, (2) affect the functioning of the staff through increased awareness of milieu characteristics, (3) compare established institutional philosophy with current operationalized staff and child perceptions, (4) identify areas of program change, (5) identify areas for policy change, and (6) evaluate the effectiveness of milieu therapy techniques in treatment outcome.
Feist et al. (Wed,) studied this question.