Effecting a continuum of care: An exploitation of the crisis of psychiatric hospital release.

This paper describes the relative effects of certain structural techniques; that is, the type, timing, and frequency of the receiving agency's contact with the potential client, in implementing a continuum of care from the psychiatric hospital to a professionally recommended community-based rehabilitation center. The differential success of these techniques range from zero to 52%. The findings concerned with the timing of interventions are interpreted in terms of crisis theory and the findings concerned with the type and frequency of contacts lead to greater specification within the theory. It was suggested that in order for a crisis intervention to be effective, the intervention must, as a necessary condition, satisfy the dependency and affiliative needs of the client. Implications for interventions at other points on the continuum of care are suggested and specific recommendations made.