Asylum and chronically ill psychiatric patients.

The decision to change the primary locus of care for chronically ill psychiatric patients from the state mental hospital to the community has often set off a chain reaction of consequences. Notably, reducing the role of institutions has frequently resulted in destroying needed sanctuary for some patients. The author discusses the relationship between deinstitutionalization and the function of asylum and examines the relevance of three planning principles--functional equivalence, cultural relevance, and potential trade-offs--to the need of chronically ill psychiatric patients for asylum.