The Netherne Resettlement Unit: Results of Ten Years

The Netherne Resettlement Unit, established in 1957, has been described in detailed publications including those by Bennett et al. (1) and Folkard (15, 16). These authors stressed the Unit's dual function of assessment and preparation of disabled patients for resettlement, and described results of its first two years in terms of discharge, readmission and employment. The basic Unit aims of resettlement in optimum employment and accommodation have remained unchanged since that time. The programme has been geared towards minimizing the patients' handicaps by improving their coping abilities (24) so that they can manage in less protected situations, by utilizing the pooled experience of a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team (18) and by mobilizing community resources (36). Hospital living and working conditions are repeatedly scrutinized so that factors which might provoke, increase or reactivate the patients' symptoms (10) are reduced. The Unit's policies, therefore, remain dependent on the forward-looking hospital administration which has encouraged democratization, effective communication and clear definition of function (33).