[Results in extramural rehabilitation of chronic mental patients: 5-year follow-up study].

Presented are the findings of a 5-year prospective study concerning residential rehabilitation of 53 subjects with chronic mental illness living in a differentiated system of complementary facilities and services. The focus had been the chronically ill patients' development and disease course, as reflected in their psychological wellbeing, work status, therapeutic requirements, social contacts, as well as periods of rehospitalization. At the end of the 5-year period, 50% of the subjects were living in sheltered communal groups, and some 25% fully on their own. Only 10 percent had returned to psychiatric hospitals as long-term patients. Vocational integration in the general labour market is only rarely achieved, but the work available in sheltered employment is suitable for 40%. All of the patients were in medical care after 5 years. Given a differentiated system of complementary support and services in the residential and vocational spheres, for medical care and leisure activities, persons with chronic mental illness, too, are able to live outside the psychiatric hospital, above all enjoying greater normality in their lifestyles as well as a higher degree of personal autonomy.