Comparative treatment technologies and health care patterns in institutions for mentally retarded

TRULY comparative studies of residential health care systems for mentally retarded are virtually nonexistent. This situation exists despite the fact that all mentally retarded comprise perhaps 5 per cent of the national population, and in the face of the fact that over 200,000 mentally retarded are in public residential facilities, cared for by nearly 100,000 staff members at a cost of over $500,000,000. The research from which this paper is drawn addressed this research lacuna, and was perhaps the first to collect comparative data on a broad range of health care system components in residential centers for mentally retarded and the technological bases influencing them. The present paper presents findings on certain indexes of comprehensiveness of health care in these institutions and their technological influences at five public facilities in widely different locations in this country. It need only be mentioned that care to the youth and adults in these institutions influences the pattern of services for mentally retarded children and youth in the community, and for those who will be admitted to these facilities in the future.