Planning for a mental hospital phasedown.
The authors studied the patients and community facilities in an area for which a mental hospital phasedown was contemplated. They found that patients who were continuously hospitalized during a 9-month period were highly dependent and judged unlikely to be candidates for community placement. By contrast, the patients who had been discharged during this 9-month period were judged relocatable by staff and constituted a select group in terms of independence. The authors' survey of community facilities indicated few placement possibilities for the majority of the continuously hospitalized patients.
D000289:Admitting Department, Hospital; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006271:Health Facility Closure; D006739:Hospital Administration; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D010351:Patient Discharge; D014218:Triage