ASSESSMENT OF LONG-STAY PSYCHIATRIC PATIENTS

Of the two components used in Wing's behaviour rating scale it appears that the first, Social Withdrawal, can be used by nurses with a fairly high degree of reliability. The second component, Socially Embarrassing Behaviour, yields rather low inter-rater correlations and in all probability is not readily applicable to the behaviour shown by patients who have been in hospital for many years and are not acutely ill. The assessment of a programme of intensive nursing care, aimed at encouraging personal initiative, social interaction and the reacquisition of elementary social graces shows that such a programme has some effect on patients whose stay in hospital does not exceed thirty years but has no effect on longer stay patients. © 1969 Springer-Verlag.