Does community care reduce the need for psychiatric beds for schizophrenic patients?
For schizophrenics, the closing down of the old traditional hospital has in many places ended up in a scenario characterized by homelessness, relapse, patients overcrowding acute psychiatric but also somatic hospital wards, increased suicide figures, low living standards--and an increased burden on the family. The beds for schizophrenics have been considerably reduced in many countries. For schizophrenia the critical low number of institution beds--hospital as well as nursing home--seems to be 0.07% of the general population. Schizophrenia in all phases must be treated as the disease it is, not as a social problem.
Dencker
S J
SJ
Göteborg University, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Sweden.
Dencker
K
K
D000328:Adult; D001508:Bed Conversion; D001509:Bed Occupancy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D003688:Deinstitutionalization; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011639:Public Opinion; D011788:Quality of Life; D012008:Recurrence; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000592:standards*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy*; D012940:Social Problems; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology