The Changing Role Of The State Psychiatric Hospital

State hospitals were once the most prominent components of U.S. public mental health systems. But a major focus of mental health policy over the past fifty years has been to close these facilities. These efforts led to a 95 percent reduction in the country's state hospital population. However,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health Affairs 2009-05, Vol.28 (3), p.676-684
Main Authors: Fisher, William H, Geller, Jeffrey L, Pandiani, John A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
20th century
21st century
Budgets
Community
Health care access
Health care policy
Health policy
Hospitals
Medicaid
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mental health care
Patients
Population decline
Psychiatry
Reimbursement
State government
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Summary:State hospitals were once the most prominent components of U.S. public mental health systems. But a major focus of mental health policy over the past fifty years has been to close these facilities. These efforts led to a 95 percent reduction in the country's state hospital population. However, more than 200 state hospitals remain open, serving a declining but challenging patient population. Using national and state-level data, this paper discusses the contemporary public mental hospital, the forces shaping its use, the challenges it faces, and its possible future role in the larger mental health system. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.28.3.676