Mental health care was revolutionised in the decades following the 1950s by the introduction of effective antipsychotic medications. Mental asylums were diminished or closed, and their residents reintegrated into society. (In NSW, Australia this process was facilitated by the Richmond Report of 1983.)
st pauly's girl has noted problems associated with this transition, some of which have been managed through the use of halfway houses in which the seriously mentally ill may live together, under the supervision of a part- or full-time mental health worker.
Bibliography
- http://www.cs.nsw.gov.au/MHealth/documents/nsw_chronology.htm