A descriptive interview with 64 patients discharged from an acute-psychiatric-inpatient service

Abstract

Background: Acute-mental-health services receive hundreds of admissions every year. Some of these patients will continue to be case-managed by community mental-health teams on discharge from the acute unit while others will not remain in contact with the mental-health service. This study compares the findings of comprehensive interviews conducted with current and past patients of the community mental-health service 3 or more years following case closure from the community ambulatory service. Methods: Between 1 July 1999 and 30 June 2001, there were 2245 closed cases identified at Barwon Health. Letters of invitation to participate in a research project were sent to people who had suffered fr..