[Psychiatric therapeutic programs--practical design]

As a consequence of the introduction of the Danish law concerning involuntary commitment and treatment in Psychiatry of 1989, the Danish psychiatric units were required to establish so called treatment programmes (t.p.) for all patients within seven days after admission. In order to establish in which ways and to what degree these t.p. were carried out, a questionnaire was sent to all 49 Danish psychiatric units for adult patients. All were returned, giving a response rate of 100%. In practice, the t.p. was noted in the following ways: 1) In 24 departments (46%) the t.p. was written into the case notes. 2) In 17 departments (33%) the t.p. was written on a separate (coloured) paper with printed headlines and filed with the case notes. 3) In 11 departments (21%) a self-adhesive label with printed headlines was fixed onto the case file. The advantages and problems related to these different approaches are discussed, and it is concluded, that the use of the self-adhesive label is a relatively quick, cheap and practical way to establish the t.p.