A Process to Help Community Mental Health Boards Plan Programs and Facilities

Two architects at the Institute for Applied Technology of the National Bureau of Standards developed a planning aid kit (the PAK system) to facilitate the community-based design of community mental health center services. PAK includes guidelines for organizing a planning group of mental health professionals and paraprofessionals and of representatives from the catchment area to be served. The group then plans for mental health programs and facilities through a series of ten meetings and two workshops, which follow a basic sequence. One concept used is performance specification, an environmental design approach based on understanding how a proposed environment is to be used before detailing its physical appearance.