Abstract
This paper describes pathways followed by 567long-stay patients who were resettled into thecommunity, as part of a program to close two psychiatrichospitals in London and replace them withcommunity-based services. Sixty-one percent of the formerpatients remained in their original placement-mostlygroup homes-over the five-year follow-up. Transitionfrom one house to another mostly took a direct course, with only 27 patients changing houses by way oflong intermediate hospitalisation. Change of residencewas at the same level of support, with only a slighttrend towards less supervised facilities. Ten patients could not be traced and have possiblybecome homeless. Only 3 patients were in prison duringthe five-year follow-up. More than a third of the samplewere readmitted at least once during that period. It is concluded that community residencesestablished under the resettlement program served asrelatively stable homes for the majority ofpatients.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Anthony, W. & Blanch, A. (1989). Research on community support services: what have we learned? Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 12(3), 55–81.
Carling, P.J. (1993). Housing and supports for persons with mental illness: emerging approaches to research and practice. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44(5), 439–449.
Caton, C. & Goldstein, J. (1984). Housing change of chronic schizophrenic patients: a consequence of the revolving door. Social Science and Medicine, 19, 759–764.
Craig, T., Hodson S., Woodward, S. & Richardson, S. (1996). Off to a bad start— a longitudinal study of homeless young people in London. The Mental Health Foundation, London.
Dayson, D. (1993). The TAPS Project 12: Crime, vagrancy, death and readmission of the long-term mentally ill during their first year of local reprovision. In (ed. J. Leff) Evaluating community placement of long-stay psychiatric patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 162,Supplement 19, 40–44.
Faulkner, A., Field, V. & Lindesay, J.(1993). Residential care provision in mental health: the current picture and future uncertainties. Journal of Mental Health, 2, 57–64.
Geller, J. & Fisher, W. (1993). The linear continuum of transitional residences: debunking the myth. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150(7), 1070–1075.
Gooch, C. & Leff, J. (1996). The TAPS Project 26: Factors affecting the success of community placement. Psychological Medicine, 26, 511–520.
Knapp, M., Beecham, J., Hallam, A. (1997). The mixed economy of psychiatric reprovision. In: Care in the Community: Illusion or Reality(ed. J. Leff), John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, New York.
Lamb, H. (1980). Board-and-care home wanderers. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 135–137.
Leff, J., Dayson, D., Gooch, C., Thornicroft, G., Wills, W. (1995). The TAPS Project. 19: Quality of life of long-stay patients discharged from two psychiatric institutions. Psychiatric Services, 47:1, 62–67.
Leff, J., Thornicroft, G., Coxhead, N., Crawford, C. (1994). The TAPS Project 22: A five-year follow-up of long-stay psychiatric patients discharged to the community. British Journal of Psychiatry, 165,(Supplement 25) 13–17.
Leff, J.(1993). All the homeless people— where do they all come from? British Medical Journal, 306, 669–670.
Leff, J., Trieman, N., Gooch, C. (1996). Team for the Assessment of Psychiatric Services(TAPS) Project 33: Prospective follow-up study of long-stay patients discharged from two psychiatric hospitals. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153:10, 1318–1324.
Lelliott, P., Audini, B., Knapp, M., Chisholm, D. (1996). The mental health residential care study: classification of facilities and description of residents. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 139–147.
Lewis, A. & Trieman, N.(1995). The TAPS Project 29: Residential care provision in North London: a representative sample of ten facilities for mentally ill people. The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 41:4, 257–267.
National Audit Commission. (1994). Finding a place— a review of mental health services for adults. HMSO, London.
Ridgway, P. & Zipple, A.M. (1990). The paradigm shift in residential services: from the linear continuum to supported housing approaches. Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal, 13(4), 11–32.
Sturt, E. & Wykes, T. (1986). The Social Behaviour Schedule: a validity and reliability study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1–11.
Tanzman, B. (1993). An overview of surveys of mental health consumers’ preferences for housing and support services. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 44(5), 450–455.
Trainor, J., Morrell-Bellai, T.L., Ballantyne, R., & Boydell, K. (1993). Housing for people with mental illness: a comparison of models and examination of the growth of alternative housing in Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38(7), 494–501.
Wing, J.K., Cooper, J.E., Sartorius, N. (1974). Description and classification of psychiatric symptoms. London: Cambridge University Press.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Trieman, N., Smith, H.E., Kendal, R. et al. The TAPS Project 41: Homes for Life? Residential Stability Five Years After Hospital Discharge. Community Ment Health J 34, 407–417 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018792108559
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018792108559