Achieving the goals of day treatment.

The problem of defining relevant goals in the rehabilitation of severely ill psychiatric patients was addressed in a day treatment program. A method was evolved from a detailed assessment of each patient's specific community functioning. Behavioral treatment strategies were individually tailored to meet the needs of a wide variety of patients in an intensive time-limited day treatment program. The provision of long term supportive outpatient services as well as overnight hospital care was considered essential for the program. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the day treatment program suggested that it did meet the needs of severely ill psychiatric patients; that good outcome was associated with high levels of participation of patients in defining their goals; and that goals concerning social and vocational functioning were achieved more frequently than intrapersonal goals.