Home Care for Chronic Mental Illness in Bangalore: An Experiment in the Prevention of Repeated Hospitalisation

Abstract

The article describes the outcome of a comparative study of home care, by a trained nurse, versus hospital out-patient supervision in the management of chronic psychiatric patients in Bangalore, India. Twenty-five patients, with a mean duration of illness of nine years, were started on the home care programme while a matched control group of 25 similar patients continued the regular out-patient contact offered by the hospital. Comparative assessments were carried out on the groups at the time of intake and again after two years. The results indicate that hospital admission was less often needed among the home care group.