ABSTRACT
The first section of this book dealt with how the concept of evidence in mental health care developed over time, and what impact it has had on policy decisions. In the second and third sections, current methodologies and applications of the concept of evidence in practice were described. The authors adopted very different perspectives and expressed views that are partly inconsistent with each other. The resulting picture of the present ‘state of the art’ appears heterogeneous and inconclusive. Several authors chose to discuss the strengths of randomised controlled trials (RCTs), which may reflect the dominant role of RCTs in current research and their popularity in the scientific community. However, limitations of RCTs were also outlined, and alternative approaches suggested. Specifically, it was argued that ‘evidence-based mental health care’ does not mean ‘RCT-based mental health care’. Randomised controlled trials are a valuable tool in the armoury, but not the only one. What conclusions can be drawn about what should be done differently for improving the evidence base in mental health care? How will research in this field progress in the future?
