Predictors of community tenure of discharged state hospital patients

Community treatment of formerly hospitalized patients is in need of evaluation. The authors evaluated an aftercare program by examining its effect on the amount of time spent in the community by patients discharged from a state mental hospital. They assessed the impact of specific intervention in the areas of housing, employment, finances, psychiatric treatment, medication, and leisure. They conclude that assistance during the transition from the hospital to the community prolonged community tenure, that intervention in the areas of housing, finances, and medication was especially important, and that treatment in the community increased the amount of time spent in the community during the first 6 months after discharge.