British Journal of Occupational Therapy

The mental hospitals of the past were overcrowded, prison-like buildings, where patients were forcibly detained in an unreal, artificial world with little hope of cure. The emphasis has now shifted to rapid cure and rehabilitation, with the majority of patients being treated outside the hospital. The psychiatric hospital of the future may be pictured as the headquarters and the training and research centre of the local mental health organization, with only a small residential unit for special treatment and investigation. In an article shortly to be published in the WHO Bulletin, Dr. Geoffrey Tooth, Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health (England and Wales) and WHO Consultant, suggests how these concepts might be applied when designing and building up a modern mental health service under various conditions. His principal arguments and conclusions are summarized below.