WHO has issued a practical guide for moving mental health care away from prolonged institutional stays and towards support within communities. The October publication focuses on people who have spent long periods in psychiatric hospitals. It argues that receiving continuing care should not require losing freedom or contact with everyday life. Hospital leaders are encouraged to reduce unnecessary long stays, protect patients' rights and prepare supported transitions. However, discharging someone is not the same as providing a sustainable alternative to institutional care.
Housing, employment opportunities, family support and accessible services must also be available. WHO reports that only nine percent of reporting countries have fully shifted to community-based care, while over half remain in early reform stages. People with personal experience of institutional care should help design the changes, rather than simply receive them. Their knowledge can reveal what makes daily recovery possible. The guide therefore presents reform as a coordinated social effort, not a task that psychiatric hospitals can complete on their own.