Mental health care increasingly faces a challenge to be 'evidence based'. However, despite much policy activity in the UK, it's still not clear what sort of evidence researchers should be producing for mental health services, or what purchasers should be looking for. Evidence in Mental Health Care evaluates a range of different research methodologies and types of 'evidence', and includes:

* a historical and conceptual analysis of what was regarded as evidence in the past, and what impact it has had in mental health care
* a presentation of different methodological approaches, and a discussion of their strengths and weaknesses in providing evidence
* how evidence is applied in different treatment and care modalities
* different angles on the way forward for providing appropriate evidence to improve current mental health care.

Evidence in Mental Health Care will prove vital for the successful extension of evidence-based evaluation to mental health services in general. It will be essential reading for researchers, students and practitioners across the range of mental health disciplines, health service managers and purchasers of services.

Stefan Priebeis Chair of Social and Community Psychiatry at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Mike Sladeis Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, London.