[Report of the work at a psychiatric transitional home (declared as a model centre in the Rheinland (author's...

The complete vocational and social re-integration of the psychiatrically disabled (schizophrenic type) is only possible to a certain degree, even after a temporary stay of approximately one year at a transitional home for the psychiatrically disabled where comprehensive therapeutic measures are provided. This is shown by the experiences gained during a three-year period of work with a study sample of 190 persons at the socio-psychiatric rehabilitation centre "Bodelschwinghaus" in Neuss, Federal Republic of Germany. A partial rehabilitation i.e., the ability to live in a community home and work in a workshop for the disabled was more successful. As a rule, the psychiatrically disabled need a long time in an encouraging and sheltered living situation which, nevertheless, must be open to the social environment, to obtain, in some cases, the degree of stabilisation necessary to one day lead an independent life. Accelerated measures structured according to economical and financial principles do not meet the needs of the psychiatrically disabled. This is why a rigorous separation between transitional and permanent homes is not appropriate in psychiatric rehabilitation.