Psychiatric rehabilitation principles for re-engineering board and care facilities.

Abstract

Existing board and care facilities remain important for psychosocial rehabilitation because of scarcity of housing alternatives and advances in empowerment and skill transfer methods. Re-engineering board and care to mitigate the disadvantages of congregate housing requires a) a physical plant upgrade; b) home-like amenities; c) in-house programming; and d) collaboration with a psychiatric rehabilitation center. Continuing collaboration with the original owner of a commercial board and care home can be helpful, but requires careful coordination of the differing cultures. This article describes practical ways to convert an existing board and care facility.