Hostel placement of mentally handicapped patients in Northern Ireland.

All patients discharged to hostels from an 800 bed hospital for the mentally handicapped were studied over a 12 year period. Those whose placement was successful were compared with those who returned to the hospital. Youth and early institutional upbringing were associated with failure of placement. Twelve specific problems were identified by hostel staff and of these aggression, psychosis, absconding and interpersonal difficulties were associated with failure. A worrying trend was that the more modern hostels had a lower success rate and a higher proportion of problems than those which were older and more established.