A SURVEY OF PREFERRED TERMS FOR USERS OF MENTAL-HEALTH-SERVICES

To determine how users of mental health services would like to be addr essed by professionals, a survey of 302 persons participating in a var iety of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric programs was conducted. F orty-five percent of the sample preferred the term ''client,'' 20 perc ent preferred the term ''patient,'' 8 percent preferred the term ''con sumer,'' and 27 percent either expressed no clear preference for one t erm or provided another term. The results suggest that no one term is favored by users of mental health services. Professionals and persons receiving mental health services are encouraged to talk over individua l preferences to help establish a working alliance.