Day hospital practices in Psychiatry Clinic of University of Ankara

Abstract

Objective: Although Day Hospital (DH) approach is extensively used and its effectiveness has long been accep¬ted for various psychiatric disorders all over the world, in Turkey it has been used only within the last decade and publications are rather scarce. Since Psychiatry Department of Ankara Medical School is one of the first training cen¬ters in Turkey where DH approach is used as a treatment modality, we would like to present our DH experience of six.years. Method: This study was performed as a retrospective file research of the 81 patients admitted to our DH between 1988 and 1994. Their recent conditions related to relapse were investigated from the follow up files. Results: The findings show that in a follow-up period of 2-6 years, DH patients relapsed less than the ones who did not enter the DH program, and it was even better for the patients who received group therapy after their discharge from DH. Conclusion: These results and our observations led us to conclude that, DH approach is an effective and convenient modality, especially for the chronic psychotic patients, with the inclusion of their families in the program.