Biomaterial Database

Hospital proximity and public acceptance of the mentally ill. 1981

C J Smith

Knowledge of the effect of the geographical proximity of a mental health facility on the public's attitudes toward the mentally ill is useful for community education efforts to reduce public opposition to a facility and rejection of its patients. To study the influence of proximity to a state mental hospital on neighborhood attitudes toward the mentally ill, the author surveyed 140 residents of two similar neighborhoods, one located adjacent to the hospital and the other half a mile away. Acceptance of individuals with symptoms of severe mental illness was significantly higher in the adjacent neighborhood, but there was no difference between the neighborhoods in acceptance of the moderately mentally ill. The results also suggested that residents living immediately adjacent to the hospital were less accepting than the norm for the neighborhood.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009825	Oklahoma	State bounded on the north by Kansas, on the east by Missouri and Arkansas, on the south by Texas, and on the west by New Mexico.
D012111	Residence Characteristics	Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.	Community,Domicile,Living Arrangements,Neighborhood,Place of Birth,Residential Selection,Arrangement, Living,Birth Place,Communities,Domiciles,Living Arrangement,Neighborhoods,Residence Characteristic
D003159	Community-Institutional Relations	The interactions between members of a community and representatives of the institutions within that community.	Community Outreach,Community Relations,Community Institutional Relations,Community Relation,Community-Institutional Relation,Outreach, Community,Relation, Community,Relation, Community-Institutional,Relations, Community,Relations, Community-Institutional
D006778	Hospitals, Psychiatric	Special hospitals which provide care to the mentally ill patient.	Mental Hospitals,Hospitals, Mental,Mental Institutions,Psychiatric Hospitals,Hospital, Mental,Hospital, Psychiatric,Institution, Mental,Institutions, Mental,Mental Hospital,Mental Institution,Psychiatric Hospital
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001294	Attitude to Health	Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.	Health Attitude,Attitude, Health,Attitudes, Health,Health Attitudes,Health, Attitude to
D001523	Mental Disorders	Psychiatric illness or diseases manifested by breakdowns in the adaptational process expressed primarily as abnormalities of thought, feeling, and behavior producing either distress or impairment of function.	Mental Illness,Psychiatric Diseases,Psychiatric Disorders,Psychiatric Illness,Behavior Disorders,Diagnosis, Psychiatric,Mental Disorders, Severe,Psychiatric Diagnosis,Illness, Mental,Mental Disorder,Mental Disorder, Severe,Mental Illnesses,Psychiatric Disease,Psychiatric Disorder,Psychiatric Illnesses,Severe Mental Disorder,Severe Mental Disorders