olinda psychiatric hospital • a closed institution opened up
impact Today, the former hospital site continues to host the Olinda association and the co-operative, which have increasingly diversified into the cultural sector while still employing former patients. The grounds are also used as public space for the local community. In the years after its official closure as a hospital, Olinda has grown to employ 29 staff members and also works with 50 permanent and 170 occasional volunteers. Since 2000, most of the turnover (90% in the co-op) revolves around Olinda’s production activities. This has effectively reduced Olinda’s dependency on volatile public funding and increased its financial resilience, allowing it to continue as a third sector organisation.
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key lessons participation beyond consultation
generating change through networks
an open ended approach
Engaging patients and the wider public
The role of external innovators
Entrepreneurial diversification
The Olinda case shows the benefits of engaging in economic activities within mental health institutions. Instead of being perceived as passive victims, in-patients were seen as resourceful individuals. This enabled them to contribute constructively while also improving their own well-being and ultimately supporting them to re-enter society at large. As a co-produced civic institution, Olinda became a convivial public space and festival site open local residents, irrespective of their backgrounds, which transformed perceptions of the hospital in the community. Residents started to use Olinda’s open spaces for community activities and used the co-op’s services to improve their livelihoods.
Many changes at Olinda were initiated by a psychiatrist from Rome, who belonged to the ‘deinstitutionalisation movement’. He brought with him not only valuable ideas and strategies but also vital relationships, acquired from his previous experience in transforming psychiatric institutions and starting up social entrepreneurships within the sector. As a networked outsider, he was able to deal with the institution in a new way and to build a broader action coalition that broke through the conservatism of Milan’s mental health policy. He was also able to draw on funding and support organisations outside the city, including regional and EU-wide programmes.
Rather than following a detailed strategic plan, Olinda evolved a variety of social and economic activities in response to local needs and opportunities. This entrepreneurial diversification has ensured a relatively steady stream of income, even as individual sources continue to be contingent. Decision-making structures aim to be open and democratic, for example by involving both employees and volunteers. This creates scope for critical self-evaluation, learning and evolutionary development of activities.
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