deinstitutionalisation
Sign in to savethumb|right|250px|The former St Elizabeth's Hospital in 2006, closed and boarded up. Located in [[Washington D.C., the hospital had been one of the sites of the Rosenhan experiment in the 1970s.]] Deinstitutionalisation (or deinstitutionalization) is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the 1950s and 1960s, it led to the closure of many psychiatric hospitals, as patients were increasingly cared for at home, in halfway houses, group homes, and clinic
Article
30 sectionsContents
- History
- 19th century
- 20th century
- Eugenics and Aktion T4
- Origins of the modern movement
- Reform
- Consequences
- Medication
- Victimisation
- Misconceptions
- Reinstitutionalisation
- Other criticisms
- Worldwide
- Asia
- Hong Kong
- Japan
- Africa
- Australia and Oceania
- New Zealand
- Europe
- Republic of Ireland
- Italy
- United Kingdom
- North America
- United States
- South America
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- Further reading
thumb|right|250px|The former St Elizabeth's Hospital in 2006, closed and boarded up. Located in [[Washington D.C., the hospital had been one of the sites of the Rosenhan experiment in the 1970s.]] Deinstitutionalisation (or deinstitutionalization) is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the 1950s and 1960s, it led to the closure of many psychiatric hospitals, as patients were increasingly cared for at home, in halfway houses, group homes, and clinics, in regular hospitals, or not at all.
Deinstitutionalisation works in two ways. The first focuses on reducing the population size of mental institutions by releasing patients, shortening stays, and reducing both admissions and readmission rates. The second focuses on reforming psychiatric care to reduce (or avoid encouraging) feelings of dependency, hopelessness and other behaviours that make it hard for patients to adjust to a life outside of care.