Patient comments concerning psychiatric hospitalization

During the past decade increasing attention has been paid to consumer assessment of mental health services. This study summarizes and interprets the comments made by 1457 adults and 474 adolescents concerning their inpatient care at a large private psychiatric hospital. Although adult and adolescent comments evidenced many similarities, adolescents tended to give a greater number of responses and to be more critical of hospitalization than were adults. Comparisons with previous research also supported findings that individual therapy is the most highly valued treatment modality, while food, finances, and living conditions are the most commonly criticized aspects of psychiatric hospitalization.