title: Aspects of outcome in a therapeutic community setting. How patients are seen by themselves and others.
abstract: How patients are seen by themselves and others close to them may influence the process of re-integration in the community after discharge. In a study in a psychiatric admission unit employing a therapeutic community approach, patients who sought little or no contact with the unit after discharge saw themselves, and were seen by others, as less "pleasant" but less "ill" than those who continued more regular contact. Perceptions were measured with the semantic differential technique. Patients' social class and household position were found to have a marked effect on the level of contact and on its association with how patients were seen. Diagnosis did not appear to influence hospital contact.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013808:Therapeutic Community