Characteristics of failures in an emergency residential alternative to psychiatric hospitalization

Consecutive patient failures in an emergency residential alternative to psychiatric hospitalization are studied. Failure is defined as transfer from the alternative program to hospital inpatient care. Discriminant function analysis is employed to differentiate the failures from a sample of patients who were maintained and treated in the alternative program. The perceptions of the emergency housing program staff about the failures augment quantified results. Findings suggest that the failures can be distinguished from the comparison group. A variety of drug abuse and medication noncompliance problems are the strongest predictors of failure. Practice implications are discussed.