Mental Health Care in 11 Major Cities Over Two Decades

Abstract

This chapter investigates how mental health services have changed over the past two decades in a selection of 11 major cities from four different continents. Overall, deinstitutionalization has moved patient care away from hospitals and into community settings where mental health centers are now developing outpatient services. The cities presented are Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Baltimore (the United States), Bangalore (India), Copenhagen (Denmark), Kobe (Japan), London (United Kingdom), Porto Alegre (Brazil), Sydney (Australia), Madison (the United States), Tehran (Iran), and Verona (Italy). These cities have been selected to represent a global perspective including different continents, cultures, and religions. This chapter reports of several promising community care initiatives and evidence that the era of institutionalization may be ending. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)