A model project in community mental health: Consultation to an urban welfare center serving a single-room occupancy hotel

Abstract

A continuing consultative relationship between a general hospital department of psychiatry and an urban welfare center serving the residents of a privately owned hotel is described-the relationship is based on biweekly seminars. Individual case study is the method of training, and an activity program the vehicle for development of indigenous resident leadership. Problems in residents' relationship to their community, worker-resident relationships, resistances of residents, anticipating both workers and residents' readiness to assume responsibility, and defining the role of consultant were confronted. The project demonstrates the effectiveness of the technique, pointing up the need for refinement of the process and the development of tools for measurement.