From hospital to community: a follow up of community placement of the long term mentally ill.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the planned movement of long stay patients with chronic mental disorders from Sunnyside Hospital into staffed residential accommodation in the community.


METHODS
Sixty-nine long stay psychiatric patients were followed up over 18 months to assess their social functioning, psychiatric symptomatology, resource use, relapse rate, satisfaction with their care, and impact on the community.


RESULTS
Social functioning and psychiatric symptomatology scores on the social behaviour schedule remained stable overall. Relapse rates were low, and rehospitalisation rare. Use of community and area health board resources tended to decrease. Over 90% of patient responses indicated satisfaction with their new living arrangements. Over 50% reported no contact with outside friends, though over the follow up period about 70% maintained at least monthly contact with relatives.


CONCLUSIONS
Careful community placement of the long term mentally ill, with ongoing supervision, can have a successful outcome from clinical, patient and community perspectives.
Macmillian
M
M
Department of Psychological Medicine, Wellington School of Medicine.
Hornblow
A
A
Baird
K
K
D002908:Chronic Disease; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003688:Deinstitutionalization; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006208:Halfway Houses; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012008:Recurrence; D012919:Social Behavior