Currently, there is lack of residential home care for chronic psychiatric patients. The current total number of hospitalized chronic patients is 83. Among them, 64 patients are hospitalized in CARAES Ndera and 19 patients are in CARAES Butare.

Those patients are categorized as below:

• Abandoned by their families: 27
• Homeless: 40
• Foreign patients: 14
• Refugees: 2

Problematic due to chronic patients

• Increase overcrowding in hospitalization
• Most of the foreigners do not have health insurance
• Increase demand in psychosocial rehabilitation, and sometimes difficult or impossible in some cases.  
• Reduce quality of care
• Increase the hospital length of stay
• Lead to hospital expenses (e.g. cost for home visiting to seek patients’ addresses, clothing them, feeding them…)
• Increase in needs of health care providers (Multidisciplinary team)