deinstitutionalize

American  

[dee-in-sti-too-shuh-nl-ahyz, -tyoo-, dee-in-] / diˌɪn stɪˈtu ʃə nlˌaɪz, -ˈtyu-, ˌdi ɪn- /

especially British, deinstitutionalise or de-institutionalize

verb (used with object)

deinstitutionalized, deinstitutionalizing

1. to release (a person with mental or physical disabilities) from a hospital, asylum, home, or other institution with the intention of providing treatment, support, or rehabilitation primarily through community resources under the supervision of healthcare professionals or facilities.

2. to remove (care, therapy, etc.) from the confines of an institution by providing treatment, support, or the like through community facilities.

3. to free from the confines or limitations of an institution.

4. to free from the bureaucracy and complex procedures associated with institutions.

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verb (used without object)

deinstitutionalized, deinstitutionalizing

1. to give up or lose institutional character or status; become deinstitutionalized.

Other Word Forms

• deinstitutionalization noun

Etymology

Origin of deinstitutionalize

First recorded in 1960–65; de- + institutionalize

Example Sentences

The scarcity of resources stems from a nationwide effort in the 1960s to deinstitutionalize people from large, warehouselike psychiatric hospitals that had become hotbeds of neglect and abuse.

From New York Times • Mar. 23, 2023

Fir Lane, the long-term-care facility where Fournier lives in Shelton, Wash., has embraced the Eden Alternative, a growing movement whose aim is to revolutionize and deinstitutionalize the long-term-care industry.

From Time Magazine Archive