[Organization of social psychiatric care in one region. 4 years of the Wetzikon Psychiatric Center in the Zurich highlands].

In this paper we hope to share our experience in developing socio-psychiatry in our regional practice, the Zurich Oberland with its 160,000 inhabitants most of which are rural and suburban. Following government's rules the Psychiatric Center Wetzikon started in 1979 with an outpatient clinic, a day clinic and a geropsychiatric aid service. The ways of introducing this new program into an already existing network of social aids are explained. Sociopsychiatric patients need help in 3 fields: Housing, working and therapy. The different activities and forms of therapy used in the Center are shown, but also what lacks in psychiatric primary care: a psychiatric emergency and crisis intervention service, a night clinic and protected working places, part of it being planned now. Our Center fulfills of duties at once: Psychiatric outpatient clinic for examination and treatment of mostly intra-psychic disturbances and furthermore sociopsychiatric ambulatory where extrapsychic troubles related to the patients social surroundings is being dealt with. To make reintegration of psychiatric patients easier we use a form of indirect care by which the lay-helper's stress capacity and understanding is developed so that his help becomes more effective in the end.