The sub-acute center: a proposal for relocating elderly mental patients

Both researchers and practitioners have become increasingly concerned with the plight of elderly mental hospital patients who are often inappropriately confined in state hospitals and then discharged from these facilities with little preparation for survival or attention given to the quality of community resources. This paper proposes the establishment of a new community care setting, a sub-acute center (SAC), which is designed to meet present inadequacies in the mental care system for the aged and combines elements of a foster home and a protective setting with a mental health aftercare component for more effectively preparing the elderly for independent community living. The SAC combines at least three concepts which are discussed: (a) the receiving station; (b) continuity of care; and (c) advocacy. The professional SAC staff and aides have many potential roles to play as practitioners, spokesmen, educators, consultants, and researchers.