Psychosocial characteristics and attitudes of clients of day care centers and contact and counseling facilities

Abstract

Within the last 20 years, many day-care centers (Tagesstätten = TSn) and drop-in centers (Psychosoziale Kontakt- und Beratungsstellen = KBSn) have been set up in Germany. Although these institutions are widespread, there are hardly any empirical studies on the characteristics of their users or on their effects. In this study, 100 patients in TSn and KBSn in Berlin were examined. Social characteristics, psychopathology and attitudes of the patients were investigated. Almost all patients had been in psychiatric hospitals before. The current psychopathology varied greatly and was moderate on average. Two-thirds of the patients were pensioners, most of them living alone with just a few or no friends. Contact with other people and structured day activities were most often mentioned as positive aspects by the patients. The most frequent negative aspect was annoyance by fellow users. Patients in TSn were significantly younger and had higher scores on BPRS subscale anergia. In other variables, there was little difference between patients in the two institutions. The results suggest that both institutions--as intended--care for chronic mentally ill patients with poor social integration. For these patients they provide some compensations for a insufficient social network. Limitations and consequences of the findings are briefly discussed.