QUANTITATIVE UTILIZATION OF PSYCHIATRIC-CARE OVER 5 YEARS BY SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS DISCHARGED FROM A MAJOR PSYCHIATRIC-HOSPITAL

The quantitative utilization of various types of psychiatric care by a group of 56 schizophrenic patients was assessed for 1989-1993. This w as a period of transformation of psychiatric services in Sweden, with institutionalization in large hospitals giving way to alternative type s of care in the community. The group studied consisted of all schizop hrenic patients from the southern part of the county council district who in 1989 or later were inpatients on short-term wards of a major ps ychiatric hospital which was closed down at the turn of 1991/1992. The patients' utilization of psychiatric care in the part of the county c ouncil district where they were domiciled was assessed retrospectively by means of various registers and records. With regard to inpatient p sychiatric care, the number of utilizers and care occasions diminished markedly in the patient group over the study period. It is evident th at the utilization of hospital psychiatric care diminished concurrentl y with the development of alternative types of residential psychiatric care, such as treatment homes and halfway houses. Most of the patient s were discharged to ordinary housing or halfway houses when they left the large psychiatric hospital. Almost without exception, the patient s maintained contact with outpatient clinics and therapeutic teams. Th ese contacts, particularly the visits to nurses and mental health nurs es, increased significantly during the study period. It seems that the se contacts are very important to help the patients to stay out of the hospital.