Psychiatric care has undergone several cycles of profound changes in the past centuries
all over the world. In Hungary, community-based outpatient care has been showing signs
of evolution since the 1950s. Initially, the system centered on assertive outreach
and family involvement, especially for those with serious mental health problems.
Such services remain available throughout the country, but the emphasis in the past
decades has shifted towards mass care provision. In many places, community-based services
are no longer provided, and where they are the approach is biomedical and less asuming
of recovery. In other centers, the services provided are conceived with the eventuality
of rehabilitation in mind and in close cooperation with community-based care providers.Community-based
services providers, as part of the social fabric, offer as many psychiatric and rehabilitation
services as possible for those with mental disorders within their communities. The
main objective of community-based care is to achieve community re-integration and
recovery from mental disorders. Today in Hungary, deinstitutionalisation and the introduction
of community-based psychiatric care have been adopted even by large inpatient institutions.
The replacement of institutional bed space and the provision of subsidised housing
further underscore the importance of community-based psychiatric care provision. There
is the opinion that, as a further course of development, the emphasis needs to now
shift towards the nurturing of a community of experienced experts and creastion of
user-led programs. In this new paradigm, the ability of a person with a mental disorder
to make decisions and the bolstering of that ability are seen as vital. In order to
achieve these objectives, it is essential that health and social seervices professionals
cooperate. Hands-on experience is key in the provision and development of such services.
