Client satisfaction, extended intervention and interpersonal skills in community mental health

Abstract

Some reservations have been expressed about the use of the concept of client satisfaction in relation to clients' views of services received. There has also been little research on clients' perspectives of mental health work. This paper explores client satisfaction with extended intervention from practitioners based at a community mental health centre. Considerable differences are identified between satisfied and not satisfied clients in the service received and their perception. These relate clearly to the use of interpersonal skills such as those of communication, empathy, listening, openness and genuineness. Taken together with research on brief intervention, this paper both indicates that the concept of satisfaction does meaningfully represent the client's experience and provides considerable support for the fundamental importance of the acquisition and use of these skills in practice.