title: Work-therapy in psychiatric rehabilitation.
abstract: The programme in a rehabilitation unit is described, with special emphasis on the role of work for chronic patients. Features include the "ladder-principle" approach to the patients' activity, the reorganization of payments and the use of hostels in the community as a way to discharge for patients achieving the higher levels both in salaries and resocialization. Two basic rules with predictive value are tentatively established: 1) middle-aged patients have the best rehabilitative prospects, 2) results of the rehabilitation process are in inverse proportion to the length of previous unemployment.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D007902:Length of Stay; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012050:Rehabilitation, Vocational / Q000379:methods*; D012759:Sheltered Workshops; D012917:Social Adjustment; D014478:Unemployment