L. Fernando et al., DISABILITY ASSESSMENT OF A LARGE HOSPITAL POPULATION WITH A MENTAL HANDICAP, British journal of developmental disabilities, 41(81), 1995, pp. 97-104
The current study describes the results of the evaluation of the entir
e population of a mental handicap hospital using the Disability Assess
ment Schedule (DAS) with a view to identifying the weaknesses, strengt
hs, needs and comparing their correlations with demographic variables.
The large majority of this hospital population have varying degrees o
f disabilities. The older group who had been in the hospital for longe
r periods of time were significantly more sociable, with better verbal
expression, fewer with behaviour problems and less autistic behaviour
as compared to the younger group. The severely/profoundly handicapped
group had significantly lower scores in all the DAS items. The differ
ent populations in this study illustrate the changes in admission poli
cies to mental handicap hospitals over the last decades, and the futur
e need of facilities for psychiatrically unwell, behaviourally difficu
lt, and multiply handicapped people in the community.