The need for hospital-based rehabilitation services

Abstract

This paper argues for the development of specialist, hospital-based rehabilitation services for a small number of very severely disabled people who need long term hospitalisation at some stage in their illness career and who can not be helped in-community settings. In general, appropriate services should be located in a DGH psychiatric unit and be in addition to acute services. Some could be on mental hospital sites and provide supra-district services to neighbouring districts. These in-patient services should: be as domestic as possible; be staffed by a multi-disciplinary team; provide realistic and individually tailored care programmes based on a goal-planning approach and a combination of biological, psychological and social interventions; provide opportunities for personal strengths and latent abilities to thrive; be functionally integrated with community-based rehabilitation services.