Research as an impetus for change in a state psychiatric hospital

This article presents recommendations resulting from a study of barriers to discharge from a state psychiatric hospital. The results of this study became the impetus and basis for this particular hospital's definition of its mission within a community support system and for the development of a hospital plan responding to the study recommendations. The programmatic and policy changes initiated by the hospital have demonstrated that a traditional state psychiatric hospital can become more responsive to the needs and desires of consumers and families by utilizing the entire mental health delivery system and other community resources. It is evident that the hospital need not be bound by the physical limits and facility-based resources that have historically restricted its responsiveness.