Twenty-four hour care for schizophrenia.

Background: Despite modern treatment approaches and a focus on community care, there remains a group of people who cannot easily be discharged from psychiatric hospital directly into the community. Twenty-four hour residential rehabilitation (a 'ward-in-a-house') is one model of care that has evolved in association with psychiatric hospital closure programmes.

Objectives: To determine the effects of 24 hour residential rehabilitation compared with standard treatment within a hospital setting.