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KMID : 0897520010060010058
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Journal of Korean Association of Social Psychiatry
2001 Volume.6 No. 1 p.58 ~ p.64
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Involuntary Outpatient Commitment - An Aid for Rehabilitation of the Chronic Mentally Ill
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Hong Jin-Pyo
Lee Dong-Eun
Kim Byung-Hoo
Choi Yong-Sung
Suh Dong-Woo
Kim Jin-Hak
Park Jong-Ik
Jhung Eun-Kee
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Abstract
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After legislation of the Mental Health Law in 1995 in Korea, we have anticipated improvement of human rights and quality of life of the mentally ill. But the recent result shows contradictory to our anticipation that long-term hospitalization has been validated and community care of chronic mental patients has gone too far distant. The objective of this article is to introduce the involuntary outpatient commitment which were used as an aid for rehabilitation of the chronic mentally ill in United States and Australia and to insist on the necessity of involuntary outpatient commitment in Korea. Involuntary outpatient commitment is a form of civil commitment in which the court orders an individual who have been poorly compliant to treatment and recurrently relapsed to comply with a specific outpatient treatment program. Many studies reported that involuntary outpatient commitment appears to provide improved outcome in rates of rehospitalization and length of hospital stay. Considering some arguments that outpatient commitment entails excessive state intrusion and interferes with the right to refuse treatment, explicit criteria of outpatient commitment should be operationalized and strict review system for refusal of treatment should be applied. Outpatient commitment decreases the time individuals must spend in psychiatric hospitals and enhances the right to be treated in the least restrictive ways. Mental health law should be revised for involuntary outpatient commitment. And understanding and cooperation of mental health personnels is the essential component in implementing involuntary outpatient commitment in Korea.
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KEYWORD
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Mental Health Law, Involuntary outpatient commitment, Mental illness
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