Follow-up of community placement of the chronic mentally ill in New South Wales

A total of 208 long-stay hospital patients in New South Wales, Australia, who were discharged to supported community accommodations were studied to determine their adjustment in the community. For 172 patients, measurements were obtained of the patients' satisfaction with their accommodations, the caretakers' perceptions of the patients' impairment and management difficulty, and the restrictiveness of practices in the various accommodations. Most patients were considered to be functioning well, although 22 of the more impaired and difficult patients were rehospitalized at the time of the study. Seventy-eight percent of the patients preferred living in the community, and only 7 percent preferred a hospital. The patients benefited from the supported, subsidized, permanent housing available in the community and required low levels of mental health care.