Mental Health
Introduction
Deinstitutionalization is evolution in the structure, exercise, experience and purpose of mental health care. In the year 1950, deinstitutionalization started and went on till 60s. Approximately 80 percent of the beds in mental health hospitals were removed and closed. There was a push for physically moving patients out of hospital but it was not a corresponding shift in attitude. Previously, mental health patients use to stay in the hospital for long but after deinstitutionalization, those were set out in community which needs a range of services such as psychiatric, clinical, rehabilitation etc. in different community agencies. This arose two major concerns- location and establishment of coherent discharge planning process (Sealy, 2012). In this paper, mental health service delivery system prior to deinstitutionalization is discussed in detail. Along with that details of Recovery Framework and its implementation in Australian mental health care delivery is elaborated.
Mental Health Service Delivery Prior to Deinstitutionalization
During deinstitutionalization, long stay psychiatric hospitals were replaced with lesser isolated community mental health service for patients with some or other kind of mental disorders or disability in development. It worked in two ways- first, it focused to reduced the population of mental health institutions through discharging patients, shortened stay at hospitals and by reducing admissions and re-admissions. It also happened through reduced or elimination of reinforcement of dependency, losing hope, maladaptive behavioural issues. It was actually benefitted for most of the patients but there were many who became homeless and without care.
Prior to deinstitutionalization, there were a large number of asylums in Western industrialized countries. These asylums were overstretched, non-therapeutic and isolated. Patients were isolated from the community. There was an overcrowd in these mental asylums because of increased admissions which was resulting in serious problems for mental health.
(I.C. RDS 3174)