D. Sestoft. Frederiksberg Hospital Dept. of Psychiatry., Frederiksberg, Denmark

Outpatient committment for psychiatric patients under custody has become a topic in several European countries and is advocated by some legislative proposals as a less costly and less coercive measure compared to involuntary or coercive hospitalisation. It has been practiced and evalued in several States of the US with ambivalent results. Committment to outpatient treatment is quite effective for forensic patients, but it is questionable whether these results can be expected with patients under civil custody, since they come from a different diagnostic spectrum and are under a different legal status. The necessary safeguards to protect their rights and the practical problems with coercion in clinical outpatients appear much more complex as to find a simple solution. Regarding the legislative proposals and the practical experiences the symposium will try to reflect the current status and the possible consequences of coercive legal measures for outpatient treatment.