The movement of a group of chronically
mentally ill clients among various facilities
for residential care was described with a
Markov probability model. The results of
a goodness-of-fit test indicated that the
model accurately captured the flow of
clients among the state psychiatric hospital, the in-patient units, the community,
and three types ofgroup homes. The model
was then used to answer several policy-relevant questions about the functioning
of the continuum of residential care, such
as how often vacancies can be expected
to arise and how efficiently clients are
progressing along the continuum.
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