Clinical characteristics and service use of persons with mental illness living in an intermediate care facility.
OBJECTIVE
The study examined the characteristics of residents living in a 450-bed intermediate care facility for persons with severe mental illness in Illinois and sought to determine the factors predicting their utilization of mental health services.


METHODS
Data on 100 randomly selected residents with a chart diagnosis of schizophrenia were collected using chart review and interviews. Data for 78 residents whose diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder was confirmed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV were included in the analyses.


RESULTS
Fifty-three percent of the residents used facility-based specialty mental health services beyond medication management, such as group therapy or a day program. Persons with the least severe psychiatric illnesses and with higher levels of motivation for overall care used the most mental health services. Thirty-five percent of the residents had been discharged to an inpatient psychiatric unit during the previous year. Residents most likely to be discharged to those settings were young men with a history of homelessness who refused facility-based health services.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite recent policy-driven efforts to improve care in this intermediate care facility for persons with mental illness, the facility continues to have problems addressing the mental health needs of the residents.
Anderson
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College of Public Health of the University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242, USA. rachel-anderson@uiowa.edu
Lewis
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007380:Intermediate Care Facilities / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index