Community Integration Pioneer Dies

I had never heard of Louis Ziskind, a pioneering social worker, until receiving an alert from Mental Health America about his death at the age of 98 on March 9. Ahead of his time, he believed that people with mental illnesses should be treated in the community. In 1953, he founded Gateways, a 10-bed pilot project in Los Angeles, where people could remain in the community while being treated. According to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, Ziskind “promoted the idea of shorter stays in state hospitals, and proposed community mental health centers that would provide treatment while aiding patients in their transition back into the mainstream.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-ziskind24mar24,0,2896444.story?coll=la-home-obituaries



Posted by Susan Rogers