The effectiveness of day hospital treatment: a review.

Variability between day hospital programs in goals of treatment, administrative affiliation, staff, patients, and treatment modalities make generalizations concerning the effectiveness of treatment difficult, if not impossible. However, the available reports of evaluation of day hospital effectiveness suggest that such treatment is comparable to both inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment in effecting symptomatic and social change and these effects may be more long-lasting than those obtained in the more traditional treatment settings. Moreover, day hospital treatment may, probably because it provides an alternative to hospitalization, reduce the likelihood of hospitalization following discharge from treatment.