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A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN AUSTRALIA: 1883–84 TO 2003–04
Author(s) -
Doessel Darrel Phillip
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8446.2009.00254.x
Subject(s) - closing (real estate) , perspective (graphical) , state (computer science) , mental health , front (military) , public administration , psychiatry , history , medicine , gerontology , political science , geography , law , art , visual arts , algorithm , meteorology , computer science
This paper describes changes in the number of residents and admissions to public psychiatric hospitals in Australia, and in the state of Queensland in particular, from 1883 to 2003. It identifies when the deinstitutionalisation of dedicated psychiatric institutions began in Queensland and finds that the policy described as ‘opening the back door’ (discharging residents) began around 1952–53, while the policy of ‘closing the front door’ (reducing admissions) began in 1962–63. Deinstitutionalisation in Queensland thus began earlier than most contemporary writers suggest.