Objective: To provide, via 'rooming-in', a local, less coercive and le
ss frightening alternative to involuntary detention. Rooming In is the
voluntary participation of so-called 'confidants', who may be chosen
family members or trusted friends, in the management of acute, severe
psychiatric disturbance by their providing a 24 hour vigil with the pa
tient in a single, safe hospital room. Method: There were 73 admission
s to the rooming-in program at the Manning Base Hospital, Taree, New S
outh Wales (NSW), Australia between 5 August 1986 and 21 September 199
2. During the same period 78 patients were remitted from the hospital
on an involuntary basis to urban detention centres: 'scheduled' under
the NSW Mental Health Act. Demographic and diagnostic characteristics
of the two populations, both of whom met identical criteria for involu
ntary detention, are compared in this retrospective, case report study
. These two groups constituted only 6% of total psychiatric consults c
arried out at the hospital over the same 6 year period and those roome
d-in represented only 12% of the psychiatric admissions. A quality ass
urance study evaluated the acceptability of the program. Results: The
scheduled patients were more likely to be single, of no fixed abode an
d without a local family. They were more likely to have a schizophreni
c disorder, compounded by polysubstance abuse, than a mood disorder. T
he average inpatient stay for those roomed-in was 10 days. Seventy per
cent of confidants were required for 4 days or less. The rooming-in p
rogram was valued highly by nursing staff, patients and their families
. Conclusion: A search of the world literature would suggest that room
ing-in, as a model of care, is unique, at least in the developed world
. It allows some seriously disturbed patients to be provided with a lo
cal and less restrictive general hospital alternative.