Aftercare of psychiatric patients and its relation to rehospitalization.

In their study of the effects of posthospital treatment on psychiatric patients the authors found that those who entered aftercare were rehospitalized less often than those who did not. They found the rehospitalization rate was higher for schizophrenic patients than for patients in other diagnostic groups, and that schizophrenic patients who did not enter aftercare were rehospitalized at a higher rate than those who did. They found no difference between rehospitalization rates of patients who continued with their hospital therapist after discharge and those patients who worked with a new therapist.