The effect of relocation on the satisfaction of psychiatric inpatients

Fifty-one psychiatric inpatients were tested on a 36-item satisfaction scale before and after a reorganization at Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center. Patients were divided into three groups (Low, Medium, and High Stress) on the basis of whether they experienced no change as a result of the reorganization, environmental change only (different building), or environmental and social change (different building, different staff, different fellow patients). Patients in the three groups were matched on the basis of chronological age, length of hospitalization, and sex. Results indicated that there were no reliable differences among the satisfaction scores of the groups as a result of the relocation. This finding supports the hypothesis that the involuntary relocation of chronic psychiatric patients to another institutional treatment environment results in few demonstrable effects.