Work performance of rehabilitated psychiatric patients--a comparative study

View Road Hospital (VRH) was commissioned on 1st August 1975 with the main objective of providing intensive rehabilitation and training for male long-stay mental patients from Woodbridge Hospital. The aim was to train and prepare them for work outside the hospital. This paper examines the work performance of the 38 patients who have been phased out to work since the commissioning. A matched group of 38 male patients undergoing similar rehabilitative schemes in Woodbridge Hospital and placed in similar open employment was selected for comparison. Contrary to expectation, the VRH patients did not perform significantly better than the Woodbrige Hospital's patients. Some of the probable reasons for this discrepancy, and their implications for psychiatric rehabilitative services in general, are discussed.