SOCIAL LEGISLATION AND STRUCTURAL LIMITS OF OUTPATIENT CARE IN CHRONICALLY MENTAL ILL PATIENTS AND THE HANDICAPPED

In the past 25 years, psychiatric care for the chronically mentally il l in Germany has improved steadily. However, this patient group contin ues to be discriminated against, especially in the sphere of outpatien t care. The mentally ill often do not meet the requirements that the r espective social security agencies, i.e. in particular pension and hea lth insurance, set out for the granting of benefits. Moreover, contrar y to scientific knowledge, measures aimed at the treatment of social d isabilities are defined not as psychiatric rehabilitation measures, bu t as measures of social integration. For these reasons welfare is high ly overrepresented in the financing of rehabilitation for the mentally ill. In recent years, legislators have attempted to compensate certai n cases of discrimination. Significant legislative changes and adminis trative developments are described and discussed in terms of their imp lications.