Changing characteristics of psychiatric patients: private and public care in Chicago

There is increasing evidence that the social and cultural characteristics of psychiatric patients have been changing over time. It is important from a professional and public policy point of view to understand better the nature of these changes, and to what they are related. This paper presents data showing that: 1) psychiatric care is increasingly reaching patients of lower socio-economic status, and 2) changes in patient characteristics are related to the growth in the proportion of psychiatric care given in organisationally based non-private practice settings.