The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated its Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including with new information specifically addressed to individuals in the European Economic Area. As described in the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, this website utilizes cookies, including for the purpose of offering an optimal online experience and services tailored to your preferences.

Please read the entire Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. By closing this message, browsing this website, continuing the navigation, or otherwise continuing to use the APA's websites, you confirm that you understand and accept the terms of the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, including the utilization of cookies.

×
ArticleNo Access

Promoting Community Involvement in Deinstitutionalization Planning: The Experience in One Community

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.33.8.654

The presence of large numbers of former mental patients in the community has forced municipal governments to become aware of the deinstitutionalization process. Many, such as in Asbury, Park, New Jersey, have voiced strong criticism of the process and have resisted the influx of patients. In 1979 the city was selected by the state mental health authority to work with the Urban Health Institute, a nonprofit health care consulting firm, in a project designed to encourage local planning and resource development for deinstitutionalized mental patients. The authors describe how the project, using traditional community organizing techniques, worked to reduce conflict and to create an atmosphere in which positive local planning for these patients became possible.

Access content

To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.