The Psychiatric Emergency Service: Mirror of Change
AARON SATLOFF M.D.1, and
CYRIL M. WORBY M.D.1
1 Assistant professors of psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 260 Crittenden Blvd., Rochester, N. Y. 14620
The authors compared the population contacting a psychiatric emergency service in 1958 with that contacting it in 1968. Among the most striking findings were the shift to a younger age group being treated, the lower rate of referral to inpatient care, and an increase in patient load that greatly exceeded the area population increase. The implications of the findings for the planning of an adequate network of community mental health facilities are discussed.
