Influence of Emotional Distress among Supporters on the Outcome of Psychogeriatric Day Care

From a sample of consecutive referrals for psychogeriatric day care, the influence of the supporters' emotional distress and self-reported strain, together with the number of problems presented by the patient, was examined in relation to outcome, 6-7 months after initial attendance. A higher level of problems and the failure to achieve any reduction in reported distress were both found to contribute to the breakdown of community care and to the subsequent institutionalisation of the patient. Day hospital care was associated with a significant reduction in emotional distress for the majority of relatives, although for relatives whose distress was not alleviated by their dependents' attendance, admission to long-term care did produce such a reduction.