Effects of Facility Characteristics on the Social Adjustment of Mentally Ill Residents of Board-and-Care Homes

Data from a survey of 851 mentally ill residents of 210 board-and-care homes in seven states were used to assess the extent to which facility characteristics such as size, rate of resident turnover, operation for profit, cost of care, staffing ratios, and location of the home encourage resident activity or permit resident apathy. Residents of smaller nonprofit homes engaged in more kinds of activities within the facility, made more excursions into the community, and were more likely to engage in productive activities than residents of larger for-profit homes. The effects of size and for-profit operation were accentuated for individuals with greater impairment in social functioning.