title: Psychiatry, homeless patients and welfare reforms: historical links and chains.
abstract: The birthplace of the specialty of psychiatry was in the asylum, which was created to divert patients from workhouses where the most disadvantaged and destitute people with mental illness were to be found. The current welfare reforms are endangering the welfare and livelihood of the most disadvantaged of our patients. These reforms in the authors' opinion are related more to the historical cycle of societal attitude to homeless people than to seeing them as the undeserving poor. This is particularly true since the current economic crisis was not caused by the poor, so it is very unfair that our poorest patients should suffer most as a result of the welfare reforms.
authors.affiliation: 1Centre for Psychiatry, Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK.
authors.forename: Walid Khalid
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Abdul-Hamid
authors.forename: Kamaldeep
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhui
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000266:history*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000266:history*; D013221:State Health Plans / Q000266:history*
keywords: Homeless people with mental health problems; disability; severe and enduring mental disorders; welfare reforms