The subjective well-being of mental patients in nursing homes

This article reports a survey of self-reports of well-being by chronic mental patients in nursing homes. Patients reported lower levels of well-being than the general population, but not lower than other socially disadvantaged groups including urban renewal blacks. Nursing home mental patients reported levels of well-being that were generally similar to mental patients in other settings, including day hospital patients, participants in an innovative community care program, and patients receiving traditional hospital and follow-up care. These reports were mostly unrelated to levels of symptomatology or social integration, but were strongly related to patient perceptions of the quality of the environment. Results have important implications concerning the justifications for community care goals like noninstitutional care, reduction of symptomatology, and the fostering of social integration.