3 CRITICAL-VIEWS OF FUNCTIONING - COMPARISONS OF ASSESSMENTS MADE BY INDIVIDUALS WITH MENTAL-ILLNESS, THEIR CASE MANAGERS, AND FAMILY MEMBERS

Level of functioning measures are regularly used by mental health agencies to identify the strengths and of individuals with mental illness. In spite of the important use of these measures, little research has compared the case manager's perception of functioning to that of individual consumers or their family members. In the current study, a comparison of the three groups produced moderate correlations in assessments of the consumer's functioning. Case managers rated the functioning of consumers significantly lower than did family members or consumers themselves with regard to Vocational Skills, Vocational Motivation, and Community Living Skills. The relevance of the three perspectives for community based service provision is discussed.