Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

To describe the philosophy, practices and costs of the Richmond Fellowship of Australia's halfway houses for the mentally ill, and to evaluate the effectiveness of these houses

Main Topics:

Variables Local state health policy priorities. Nature, practices and perceptions of main referral agents. Architectural features, policies, resources, social 'atmosphere', time-table, and costs of each house. Social histories, judgements about group activities, and perceptions of treatment processes of both staff and residents. Measures of present and past state of residents' psychological well-being. Measurement Scales House charactistics: the Multiphasic Environmental Assessment Procedure (R.H. Moos, <i>M.E.A.P., Preliminary Manual</i>, Social Ecology Laboratory, Stanford Univ. Medical School) Staff/resident judgements and perceptions: opinions about treatment (treatment values) questionaire; rank ordering of helpful group activities (N. Manning, 'Implementing ideals', in R.D. Thistlewood and N. Manning (eds), <i>Therapeutic Communities</i>, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979) Residents' psychological state: Kelly Grid; General Health Questionnaire; outcome questionnaire

No sampling (total universe)

Face-to-face interview

Postal survey

Psychological measurements

(policy-makers and referrers)