Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:909-913
Copyright © 1992 by American Psychiatric Association
Conservatorship for gravely disabled psychiatric patients: a four-year follow-up study
HR Lamb and LE Weinberger
University of Southern California School of Medicine.
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the conservatorship process in California
by studying a group of psychiatric patients for whom conservatorship was
sought; their goal was to determine its effectiveness both during and after
the period of conservatorship. METHOD: The subjects were 60 county
psychiatric hospital inpatients 18- 60 years old for whom temporary
(30-day) conservatorships were obtained and who were followed for 4 years.
The patients' courses over the 4 years were assessed in terms of whether
1-year conservatorships were obtained, stability (number and length of
psychiatric hospitalizations, arrests, serious physical violence, and
homelessness), and presence or absence of family support. RESULTS: The
patients proved to be a severely mentally ill and disabled group.
Thirty-five (58%) were granted a 1-year conservatorship sometime during the
4-year study period, and 25 (42%) were not. Both family support and
conservatorship appeared to be related to the patients' stability. When one
or both were present, there was a significantly greater likelihood of
stability. CONCLUSIONS: The authors believe that for a considerable number
of chronically and severely mentally ill individuals, conservatorship would
play an important role in their clinical management and treatment by
helping to eliminate their chaotic life styles, their cycle of admission
and discharge from hospitals and jails, and/or their living on the streets,
particularly when family support is absent.
