title: Community support systems: scaling community acceptance.
abstract: In recommendations for community support systems, there are expectations of public involvement in unprecedented proportions; yet evidence of fundamental shifts in attitudes and behaviors toward the mentally ill is lacking. Considerations of the complexity of public acceptance led to the development of a scale used to measure the extent of support for the chronically mentally ill among 574 randomly selected adults in Leon County, Florida. Comparison of the general population with residents in a neighborhood known to be opposed to community-based services served to establish the validity of the scale. The findings led to recommendations for future research in this area.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003688:Deinstitutionalization; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012929:Psychological Distance; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011639:Public Opinion; D012106:Research; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support