This article examines the policy of using target-setting and measurement to deliver on the United Nations’ (UN) development goals. Using evidence from similar monitoring and management strategies in the United Kingdom (UK), we question the purpose of using process and outcome targets and suggest that this approach can be counter-productive. It can also lead to a situation where maintaining public relations and image is prioritised at the expense of making real impacts on key development issues. While the UN's aims are praiseworthy, we suggest that the somewhat simplistic methodology adopted is damaging to the very people that the UN is seeking to help.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anthony, W. (2003). Studying evidence-based processes, not practices . Psychiatric Services, 54 (1), 7 .
2.
Attaran, A. (2005). An immesurable crisis? A criticism of the Millennium Development Goals and why they cannot be measured . Public Library of Science, Medicine, 2 (10), e318 .
3.
Audit Commission (2003). Assessing the accuracy of waiting list information in NHS hospitals in England. London: Stationery Office, Audit Commission .
4.
Berliner, J. (1988). Soviet industry from Stalin to Gorbachev. Aldershot: Edward Elgar .
5.
Bevan, G. (2006). Setting targets for health care performance: Lessons from a case study of the English NHS . National Institute Economic Review, 197 (1), 67–79 .
6.
Bevan, G. and C. Hood (2004). Targets, inspections and transparency . British Medical Journal, 328(7440), 598 .
7.
Browne, G. (2006). Outcome measures: Do they fit with a recovery model?International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 15 (2), 153–54 .
8.
Dahlgren, L. and A. Willander (1989). Are special treatment facilities for female alcoholics needed? A controlled 2-year follow-up study from a specialized female unit (EWA) versus a mixed male/female treatment facility . Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 13 (4), 499–504 .
9.
Detoxification Evaluation Project Team (1982). Final report to the Department of Health and Social Security. London: Maudsley Hospital DEP .
10.
Gitlow, S. (2007). Recovery and research: A better paradigm . Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 33 (3), 277–78 .
11.
Gossop, M. , J. Marsden , D. Stewart and T. Kidd (2003). The National Treatment Outcome Research Study (NTORS): 4–5 year follow-up results . Addiction, 98 (3), 291–303 .
12.
Gossop (2008). The clinical fallacy and treatment outcomes . Addiction, 103, 89–90 .
13.
Hart, A. and R. Lockley (2002). Inequalities in health care provision: The relationship between contemporary policy and contemporary practice in maternity services in England . Journal of Advanced Nursing, 37 (5), 485–93 .
14.
Institute of Medicine (1990). Broadening the base of treatment of alcohol problems. Washington: National Academy Press .
15.
Lambert, H. (2006). Accounting for EBM: Notions of evidence in medicine . Social Science & Medicine, 62 (11), 2633–45 .
16.
Luger, L. and D. Sookhoo (2005). Rapid needs assessment of the provision of drug and alcohol services for people from minority ethnic groups with drug and alcohol problems . Diversity in Health & Social Care, 2 (3), 167–76 .
17.
Marlow, P. 2005. Literature review on the value of target setting. HSL/2005/2645, Health & Safety Laboratory, Sheffield.
18.
Ministry of Justice (2008). Human rights insight project. London: Ministry of Justice Research Series 1/08 .
19.
Mohatt, G. , S. Rasmus , L. Thomas , J. Allen , K. Hazel and G. Marlatt (2008). Risk resilience, and natural recovery: A model of recovery from alcohol abuse for Alaska Natives . Addiction, 103, 205–15 .
20.
Neissen, L. , E. Grijseels and F. Rutten (2000). The evidence-based approach in health policy and health care delivery . Social Science & Medicine, 51 (6), 859–69 .
21.
New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (2003). Achieving the promise: Transforming mental healthcare in America. Final Report. Rochville, Md, Department of Health and Human Services . Publication SMA-03-3832.
22.
O'Connor, F. and K. Delaney (2007). The recovery movement: Defining evidence-based processes . Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 21 (3), 172–75 .
23.
Palacios, W. , C. Urmann , R. Newel and N. Hamilton (1999). Developing a sociological framework for dually diagnosed women . Journal of Substance Abuse Treatm ent, 17(1–2), 91–102 .
24.
Power, M. (1999). The audit society: Rituals of verification. Oxford: Oxford University Press .
25.
Ramon, S. , B. Healy and N. Renouf (2007). Recovery from mental illness as an emergent concept and practice in Australia and the UK . International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 53 (2), 108–22 .
26.
Randolph, F. , M. Blasinsky , W. Leginski , L. Parker and H. Goldman (1997). Creating integrated service systems for homeless persons with mental illness: The ACCESS program: Access to community care and effective services and supports . Psychiatric Services, 48 (3), 369–73 .
27.
Rassool, H. (2006). Substance abuse in black and minority ethnic communities in the United Kingdom: A neglected problem?Journal of Addictions Nursing, 17 (2), 127–32 .
28.
Rawlinson, N. (2008). Harms of target driven care . British Medical Journal, 337(7663), 237 .
29.
Rogers, A. , J. Flowers and D. Pencheon (1999). Improving access needs a whole systems approach . British Medical Journal, 319(7214), 866–67 .
30.
Ryan, T. (1997). The Smithfield project: A comprehensive service for dependent drinkers . Journal of Substance Misuse, 2 (2), 109–13 .
31.
Ryan, T. , L. Webb and P. Meier (2006). A systems approach to care pathways into in-patient alcohol detoxification: Outcomes from a retrospective study . Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 85 (1), 28–34 .
32.
Tallis, R. (2006). Targets have failed the NHS. Available at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article604863.ece. Accessed on 9 September 2008.
33.
Tucker, J. (2008). Different pathways to knowledge about different pathways to recovery on the people awakening study . Addiction, 103, 216–17 .
34.
Tucker, J. and D. Roth (2006). Extending the evidence hierarchy to enhance evidence-based practice for substance use disorders . Addiction, 101 (7), 918–32 .
35.
Tudor-Hart, J. (1971). The inverse care law . Lancet, 7696, 405–12 .
36.
Tsemberis, S. , L. Moran , M. Shinn , S. Asmussen and D. Shern (2003). Consumer preference programs for individuals who are homeless and have psychiatric disabilities: A drop-in centre and a supported housing program . American Journal of Community Psychology, 32(3–4), 305–17 .
37.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2007). The Millennium Development Goals report. New York: United Nations .
38.
United Nations General Assembly (2001). Road map towards the implementation of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Report of the Secretary-General. Report number A/56/326. New York: United Nations.
39.
Webb, L. (2009). Counting girls out: A review of suicide among young substance misusers and gender difference implications in the evaluation of risk . Drug Education, Prevention & Policy, 16 (2), 103–26 .
40.
Webb, L. , T. Ryan and P. Meier (2008). Care pathways to in-patient alcohol detoxification and their effects on predictors of treatment completion . Journal of Substance Use, 13 (4), 255–67 .
