Partial Hospitalization

Abstract

Abstract Compared to the psychiatric hospital, with its long and varied history, partial hospitalization is a relatively recent development in psychiatric care. The first day hospitals were established a half-century ago, but despite its 50-year lifespan, partial hospitalization remains remarkably unfamiliar to many in the psychiatric community. Partial hospital services have had a checkered history and at various times and places have developed in differing incarnations. The principles, philosophies, and methods of care have been affected by competing needs and changing therapeutic strategies reflecting developments in the practice of psychiatry. Because partial hospitals have remained peripheral to the mainstream of psychiatric practice, they have been influenced more by individual innovators than by traditions encompassing psychiatry in general. This has resulted in the scope and focus of these services remaining relatively broadly defined and often vague in conception. Furthermore, most programmatic developments have occurred locally rather than nationally. Nevertheless, efforts have been made to develop a coherent framework for this treatment approach.