Evaluation of a Comprehensive Psychiatric and Health Care Program for Elderly Welfare Tenants in a Single‐Room Occupancy Hotel*

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Abstract
This report concerns the evaluation of a program for elderly welfare recipients and for patients discharged from state hospitals and sent to live in a single‐room occupancy hotel in New York City. Descriptions are given of: 1) the hotel, 2) the funding of the program and the staff, 3) the program and its various aspects, and 4) the objectives. The evaluation is based on the results of an intensive survey conducted for the period January‐June 1972. Of the 299 tenants, 181 provided the detailed information. About 87 per cent of the tenants (mean age, 59.1 years) were supported in full or in part by welfare; only 4 per cent were currently married; 18 per cent had some college experience; and the mean length of tenancy was about four years. There was a distinct increase each month in the tenants' use of medical, psychiatric, recreational and social services. Thus it is not always possible to plan the program requirements in advance because of abrupt situational changes.This hotel project is offered as a model for the development of a comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program for elderly welfare tenants and psychiatric patients living in urban hotels. The aim is to improve the quality of life for the tenants and to establish a sense of community and personal autonomy among them.