Service users’ perceptions of a psychiatric day hospital

There has been increasing interest in the views of service users within the National Health Service (NHS). This exploratory study used tape recorded semi-structured interviews with users (31) attending one psychiatric day hospital. It sought to elicit information about the service users perceptions of their attendance. The service users indicated that they saw the day hospital as providing social contact with others, and that it taught them strategies of how to cope with their disorder. Many of them indicated that social isolation from the ‘outside world’ was their predominate problem. Some appeared to have become reliant on the day hospital for the social contacts that it provided. This paper argues that dependence on the day hospital can be seen as simply part of the process of being a psychiatric day patient.