Reform and reshaping mental health services in the Montreal area.

Over the past 40 years, the mental health care system has been radically transformed from one focused on institutionalized care to one centred on treatment in community settings. Following the example of the UK and USA, Quebec is travelling down a similar path in transferring mental illness services from mental hospitals to the community. The purpose of this present study is firstly to examine why and how this administrative settlement has been reached; secondly to explain the operation of the service, especially in both sectors where Quebec has innovated: family housing and individualized service plans.