Evaluation of alternative residential facilities for the severely mentally handicapped in Wessex: Family contact

Abstract

A number of small locally-based hospital units for severely and profoundly mentally handicapped people requiring residential care have been provided in Wessex, each sited within a catchment area considerably smaller than the territory served by any of the large mental handicap hospitals in the region. A comparison of the rates of contact between clients and their families in the first five locally-based hospital units to be provided and in five villas on a large mental handicap hospital campus showed that the provision of locally-based hospital units resulted in greater family contact with the handicapped residents.