[The gerontopsychiatric day clinic--a contribution to increasing sociopractical competence].

The effectiveness of day hospital care of geriatric psychiatric patients was evaluated in a pilot study. The main aspect was the training of social competence, i.e. a training leading to growing personal independence of the demands of every day life, such as hygiene , fitness considering the household, etc. During day hospital treatment a significant improvement regarding social competence was attained. A one year follow-up showed a moderate decline in the patients' performances of the earlier trained skills.