Considerable emphasis is being given to the planning of community-based mental health services in the Northern Territory. This survey was carried out in response to the expressed need for such services, and as an adjunct to the recent Spragg Report. The survey appraises what is currently happening to psychiatric patients after their discharge from hospital, and examines the type and quantity of community services from which they and their caregivers would derive benefit.
The need and benefits of community psychiatric services are not debated in view of the proliferation of studies which have shown a decrease in hospital re-admissions and institutionalisation as community services are developed.