Can We Manage Without the Mental Hospital?

Abstract

Long-stay, non-demented patients, including the elderly, enjoy a better quality of life in the community homes compared with the psychiatric hospitals. Public attitudes constitute an obstacle to social integration into the healthy community, but can be ameliorated with local educational programmes. The provision of work has been unsatisfactory, but the development of social firms holds some promise. Patients with dementia receive better care in community nursing homes compared with hospital wards, according to their relatives' opinions, backed up by observational studies. The part of the service which is most unsatisfactory is the admission facilities. This is due to a variety of causes, including a failure to plan for the admission needs of discharged long-stay patients, the virtual absence of rehabilitation units in the community and an inadequate provision of a range of sheltered accommodation. However, these problems could be resolved with adequate investment in innovative facilities.

Exciting Career Opportunity Beckons! Early Intervention and Vocational Rehabilitation in First-Episode Psychosis: Employing Cautious Optimism

“…Industrial or work therapy was the name given to the wide range of chores and jobs given to residents of the old institutions in the times before deinstitutionalization [25],[47],[48]. In re-examining these programs now, it can be seen that while they did provide an occupation for people and in some cases might have helped them learn new skills, they were inadequate in two ways.…”

Exciting career opportunity beckons! Early intervention and vocational rehabilitation in first-episode psychosis: employing cautious optimism

“…Industrial or work therapy was the name given to the wide range of chores and jobs given to residents of the old institutions in the times before deinstitutionalization [25,47,48]. In re‐examining these programs now, it can be seen that while they did provide an occupation for people and in some cases might have helped them learn new skills, they were inadequate in two ways.…”

A study of collaboration inpatient treatment between the community psychiatric health services and a psychiatric hospital in Norway

“…2001, Rosenheck et al . 2001); the need for evaluation of different service systems; and the use of goals to reach decisions about whether to use direct or indirect client treatment as a model for improving the service systems; (Badger et al . 2000, Barnes et al .…”