Aim. The aim of the presented research is the characterisation of the social group participating in a home-care services conducted in the Warsaw area. Method. 105 long-term patients with mental disorders provided with home-care services were the participants in the study. They were not hospitalised at the time when the research was conducted. The following instruments were used: GAS, a questionnaire especially prepared for the needs of this research. Conclusions. The chronically mental ill persons show numerous difficulties in their social functioning. Good functioning of our respondents in social situations can be accounted for by their participation in the home-care services system, and protects them against successive hospitalisation. It is necessary to treat the local home-care programmes as an effective mechanism supporting the functioning of the chronically mental ill people.