Young adult chronic patients: an analytical review of the literature.

This article analyzes the periodical and "fugitive" literature concerned with an emerging psychiatric service entity, young adult chronic patients. The increasing prominence of a young adult patient population results from the confluence of two primary forces: deinstitutionalization policies and demographic factors. The author discusses the clinical diversity and program requirements of these patients. Young adult chronic patients are best served when their uniqueness as a patient population is acknowledged and heeded and when special services for them are integrated into the total system of care, the author concludes.