Cooperative apartments: new programs in community mental health

The potential of cooperative apartments as an alternative in residential care for former mental patients is only beginning to be explored. Existing programs demonstrate the viability of these apartments as a last stepping-stone to be used by patients as they move toward a completely independent way of life. In contrast to other residential arrangements, such as foster home care or halfway houses, cooperative apartments seem on balance to be less likely to induce patient dependence or to have an aura reminiscent of the hospital to patients. Moreover, they are relatively inexpensive, can be established without attracting untoward attention in the community, and permit their occupants to live more like other people and with comparatively little stigma. As indicated by the variety of sponsoring agencies described in this article, the impetus to establish cooperative apartments can come from many sources. Such diversity is currently necessary. Only through the evaluation of different models and their effectiveness will criteria be established for a national policy regarding residential care.