RESUMO
As a result of public law 99-166 the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Juan (DVAMC), Puerto Rico engaged in a planned de-institutionalization of psychiatric veteran patients who had been treated in two contracted psychiatric hospitals in the community. This research seeks to determine whether they were receiving treatment after the deinstitutionalization effort was completed, the types of psychosocial problems they were facing and the resources utilized to cope with them. The authors found that the veterans were receiving treatment for their psychosocial problems, they relied to a great extent on DVAMC for services and that the psychosocial problems of those veterans over age 55 were less and differed from those under age 55.
Assuntos
Serviços Comunitários de Saúde Mental/estatística & dados numéricos , Desinstitucionalização , Transtornos Mentais/reabilitação , Atividades Cotidianas , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Serviços Comunitários de Saúde Mental/provisão & distribuição , Emprego , Família , Seguimentos , Humanos , Renda , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Porto Rico , Problemas Sociais , Estados Unidos , United States Department of Veterans AffairsRESUMO
A study was made of a matched-random sample of veterans who had been discharged from two VA contract psychiatric hospitals in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The authors wished to determine what had happened to the veterans who were formerly treated in the psychiatric hospitals and whether these veterans were receiving treatment or not. The analysis of the data revealed that the majority of veteran's had received either inpatient or ambulatory treatment for either psychiatric or medical/surgical conditions. The older group of veterans had utilized medical treatment resources to a greater extend that the younger group. The number of hospitalizations decreased from 8.5 prior to June of 1984 to 3.6 after June 1984. Although patients continued utilizing and depending upon VA ambulatory care for medical services needed.