Deinstitutionalisation and the move to community care: comparing the changing dimensions of mental healthcare after 1922 in the Republic of Ireland and England.

The advent of deinstitutionalisation and the introduction of community care in the latter part of the twentieth century have revolutionised mental-health service provision across Europe, although implementation, timing and services have varied widely in different countries. This article compares the changing dimensions of mental-health provision in post-independence Ireland with that in England, and will shed light on the current state of mental healthcare in both countries. The article calls for more research into the impact of deinstitutionalisation, such as the challenges faced in the community for those in need of continuing care.

Post-mortem in the Victorian asylum: practice, purpose and findings at the Littlemore County Lunatic Asylum, 1886-7.

This article examines the purpose of the post-mortem in the late Victorian asylum and discusses what the findings reveal about contemporary understanding of mental health. By examining the practice at the Littlemore Asylum of Oxford, the definition of the asylum post-mortem will be questioned and issues of consent and ownership of the dead body explored. It will be argued that the purpose of the examination was partly to appease the demands of the Commissioners in Lunacy, to protect the asylum against accusations of malpractice, and to appease the resident assistant medical officer's own morbid curiosity.

The first lady almoner: the appointment, position, and findings of Miss Mary Stewart at the Royal Free Hospital, 1895-99.

This article examines the professional roots of the hospital almoner, a position which has been widely neglected in medical history. The first almoner was Miss Mary Stewart, a former Charity Organization Society employee, appointed at the Royal Free Hospital of central London in 1895. The Royal Free was a charitable hospital which offered free medical treatment to patients considered morally deserving but unable to afford medical care elsewhere.