Am J Psychiatry 1979; 136:1556-1561
Copyright © 1979 by American Psychiatric Association
Predictors of community tenure of discharged state hospital patients
A Bene-Kociemba, PG Cotton and A Frank
Community treatment of formerly hospitalized patients is in need of
evaluation. The authors evaluated an aftercare program by examining its
effect on the amount of time spent in the community by patients discharged
from a state mental hospital. They assessed the impact of specific
intervention in the areas of housing, employment, finances, psychiatric
treatment, medication, and leisure. They conclude that assistance during
the transition from the hospital to the community prolonged community
tenure, that intervention in the areas of housing, finances, and medication
was especially important, and that treatment in the community increased the
amount of time spent in the community during the first 6 months after
discharge.
