Efforts to preserve the mind in contemporary hospital treatment.

The author proposes a restructured and refocused extended length-of-stay inpatient treatment program designed to maintain an emphasis on the whole person. He suggests that the conditions for implementing a genuine biopsychosocial approach to treatment are now more possible than ever before. Note is made of the evolution of the new structures, the change in treatment constraints, and the type of patient currently presenting for inpatient treatment. Modifications of traditional and current inpatient treatment strategies, especially the formal inclusion of the patient on the multidisciplinary treatment team, enable the restructuring to focus on treatment recalcitrance, on establishing and reestablishing flexible mental processes, and on promoting community reintegration and tenure.