Study of alternative accommodation, using the hospital hostel practices profile.

The authors studied 58 different types of accommodation belonging to various classifications (Psychiatric Wards, Asylums, Hostels, Sheltered Homes, Apartments and Boarding Houses) which housed 613 chronic mental patients from the province of Valencia. The "Hospital Hostel Practices Profile" was used to test the reliability (internal consistency) of the Spanish translation. A profile of different types of practice in the accommodation was obtained by assessing restrictive practices in the patient's areas of activity, personal possessions, meals and drinks, health and hygiene, residents' rooms and services. Significant differences were observed between psychiatric wards and self-contained apartments and also, to a lesser degree, sheltered homes. The usefulness of H.H.P.P. for the analysis of restrictive practices in the accommodation of deinstitutionalized people is discussed in order to highlight the most suitable type of resettlement for the patients.