Selection criteria for partial hospitalization.

During the early 1960s partial hospitalization emerged as an important component of community-based psychiatric treatment. Initially partial hospitals offered all types of treatment to all types of patients. To help mental health professionals make informed decisions when matching specific treatments to specific patient characteristics, the authors define three kinds of partial hospitals--intensive care, chronic care, and rehabilitation partial hospitals--and propose selection criteria for referral to each model. Factors to be considered in making differential therapeutic decisions between a specific type of partial hospital program and alternative methods of treatment, such as inpatient treatment, are discussed.