Increasing psychiatric inpatients' community adjustment through therapeutic passes.

Using several self-generated instruments, the authors monitored patient care records and interviewed psychiatric patients, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurses to identify the role of passes in discharge planning and community adjustment and to assess passes' utility in the inpatient treatment program. Findings indicate that while therapeutic passes are considered an integral component of discharge planning and community adjustment, the purposes and use of passes are ambiguous. The authors offer suggestions to maximize the benefits of passes in promoting patients' transition from the hospital to home settings.