Publisher's Synopsis
This book concerns the organizational and practice issues involved in implementing a policy of 'community care' for people with mental health problems. It is based on a two-year evaluative study and gives a detailed account of the process of moving an overall service away from a parent hospital and developing new forms of support in a particular local area, integrating community and residential components. The central focus is the impact of this transition on the multi-disciplinary team providing the day-to-day service and on the people using it. Portsmouth?s approach to decentralization offers a model for others concerned with developing high quality social care for people with mental health problems, including anyone currently working to implement the NHS and Community Care Act 1990. Important issues are raised around the changing nature of professional practice implicit in the move from hospital to community based support.
