Day care: can it prevent readmission to a psychiatric hospital?

This report concerns the readmission rate for patients involved in Day Care programs at Kingston Psychiatric Hospital. Readmissions were counted for a 3 year period, and results compared with groups of patients who did not attend Day Care. Seventy-three percent of the Day Care Group were readmitted within 3 years as compared to 45% of the main Control Group; however, the Day Care Group had the lowest mean number of readmissions, 1.08, as compared to the Control Group, with 1.25. The relative merits of these two ways of measuring admission rates is discussed in relation to the search for valid outcome criteria. The results were interpreted to indicate that Day Care and related support services help ensure that readmission only occurs in the event of a serious exacerbation of the psychiatric state.