Psychiatric Inpatients: Who, Where, and Future

Recent statistics show that an increasing number of people with psychiatric illness are being treated in community settings rather than in hospitals. This shift in treatment locus requires a reexamination of program priorities, staff training and deployment, financial allocations, and plans for construction of facilities. A wide range of community-based therapeutic, rehabilitative, and supportive services appears necessary; the need for additional programs to treat patients with alcohol problems is particulary apparent.