General hospital psychiatry in the 1980's

There has been an increasing amount of attention being given to the role of community hospital based inpatient psychiatric services in the face of changing utilization patterns, state hospital deinstitutionalization and cutbacks in community support programs. These trends have converged over recent years to reshape the nature of psychiatric practice in the general hospital setting. It is likely that these trends will continue throughout the 80's and that general hospital based services will become increasingly pivotal in the care of mental illness at the community level. The challenge facing such programs will be adapt creatively to the changing demands of the market environment while maintaining the integrity of existing programs and coping with the pressures that these changes place on staff.