An annual evaluation of ward living conditions.

I s MINNESOTA we have attacked the problem of dehumanization through use of a scale that rates living conditions on the wards. The scale, based on a questionnaire, was devised early in 1965 by the Medical Services Division of the State Department of Public Welfare. The questions deal with objects that make the ward more attractive and livable, practices involving the patients, and general ward operations. They were formulated to give a broad view of the quality of the patients' lives. Scores on the first questionnaires, completed in May 1965, resulted in a baseline rating for almost every ward in the state's institutions for the mentally ill and the retarded. Each ward was rated on a