ABSTRACT
The reduction in the number of hospital beds and the development of new community psychiatric services, which occurred in Italy following the psychiatric reform of 1978, have aroused much interest in the evaluation of these new services and, in particular, in the study of the patterns of care provided. Research concerning delivery of psychiatric services has attracted an increasing interest in many other countries, primarily because of the worldwide economic recession and the need for more efficient utilisation of resources. The single consultation patients, as well as the long-stay inpatients were excluded from the study sample. The former group, consisting of patients who were screened, but did not receive any psychiatric care, will be considered in another study. The latter group was excluded, because it is formed by long-stay mental hospital inpatients, who have not been assisted by the South Verona Community Psychiatric Service, nor by the other agencies in the area.
