The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Hospital hostels : an evaluation of four psychiatric care facilities in Hampshire

Hospital hostels : an evaluation of four psychiatric care facilities in Hampshire
Hospital hostels : an evaluation of four psychiatric care facilities in Hampshire

This is a longitudinal, comparative evaluation of the therapeutic effectiveness of hospital hostels for the long term mentally ill. The empirical work was in two parts. The first consisted of a pilot operation in which the study's methods and instruments were tested at a single hospital hostel. The second consisted of the use of those methods and instruments, in ways which were informed by the pilot experience, at three other hospital hostels, over a period of twelve months. The methods used included both quantitative and qualitative techniques, some of which (viz., four questionnaires) were wholly devised by the author.

The primary aim of the study was to identify the probable key factor(s) involved in the effectiveness, or otherwise, of hospital hostels, with a view to, if necessary, recommending their adjustment in the interest of the optimisation of the effectiveness of the hospital hostel.

The study's hypothesis, that residents of a hospital hostel with a lower level of restrictiveness than others would tend to achieve better social and clinical outcomes than residents of those other hostels, was confirmed. However, the most crucial factor for residents' outcomes was not the level of restrictivenes per se, but the appropriateness of the match, or `fit', between it and their overall level of disablement.

The appellation long stay tended to distort in a negative direction the staff's perceptions and judgements of their hostel's resident group's overall level of disablement, leading them to adopt a more restrictive approach than was necessary, desirable or appropriate. Inter alia, it is recommended that the long stay label be proscribed, at least in respect of hospital hostels, and that all such facilities be known in future as rehabilitation hostels.

University of Southampton
Emerson, Andrew
Emerson, Andrew

Emerson, Andrew (1993) Hospital hostels : an evaluation of four psychiatric care facilities in Hampshire. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This is a longitudinal, comparative evaluation of the therapeutic effectiveness of hospital hostels for the long term mentally ill. The empirical work was in two parts. The first consisted of a pilot operation in which the study's methods and instruments were tested at a single hospital hostel. The second consisted of the use of those methods and instruments, in ways which were informed by the pilot experience, at three other hospital hostels, over a period of twelve months. The methods used included both quantitative and qualitative techniques, some of which (viz., four questionnaires) were wholly devised by the author.

The primary aim of the study was to identify the probable key factor(s) involved in the effectiveness, or otherwise, of hospital hostels, with a view to, if necessary, recommending their adjustment in the interest of the optimisation of the effectiveness of the hospital hostel.

The study's hypothesis, that residents of a hospital hostel with a lower level of restrictiveness than others would tend to achieve better social and clinical outcomes than residents of those other hostels, was confirmed. However, the most crucial factor for residents' outcomes was not the level of restrictivenes per se, but the appropriateness of the match, or `fit', between it and their overall level of disablement.

The appellation long stay tended to distort in a negative direction the staff's perceptions and judgements of their hostel's resident group's overall level of disablement, leading them to adopt a more restrictive approach than was necessary, desirable or appropriate. Inter alia, it is recommended that the long stay label be proscribed, at least in respect of hospital hostels, and that all such facilities be known in future as rehabilitation hostels.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 1993

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 462638
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/462638
PURE UUID: b47d68a2-0918-49ff-b53c-64bc8305684d

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 19:34
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 19:34

Export record

Contributors

Author: Andrew Emerson

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×