This large-scale quality improvement project across 55 mental health wards tested Board Relay, Zonal Observations, and Life Skills activities to improve therapeutic engagement. Results showed promising reductions in aggression, restrictive practices, and staff sickness.
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Informal coercion – the subtle pressure patients feel in psychiatric care – is common but poorly understood. A new scoping review sheds light on how it’s defined, where it happens, and why it matters for patients and professionals alike.
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Amber Jarvis summarises a new typology of alternatives to standard inpatient care produced by the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Mental Health, which suggests there are multiple alternatives to ‘traditional’ inpatient mental health care, which planners and commissioners should consider.
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The relationship between staffing and incidents of violence and aggression on wards is complex. Today Emily Wood reminds us that there is an urgent need for high quality evidence to inform guidelines and practice.
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Jill Stavert summarises a recent qualitative meta-synthesis of service users’ and carers’ experiences of assessment and involuntary hospital admissions under mental health legislations.
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Jessica Griffiths and Una Foye explore a recent qualitative review of adverse mental health inpatient experiences, which proposes a strategic approach to improving service design and delivery, advocating for environments that prioritise patient safety, dignity and respect.
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Nima Hunt summarises a new systematic review published today on the use and impact of surveillance-based technology initiatives in inpatient and acute mental health settings. The review suggests that surveillance technologies should not be used in mental health settings until further research supports their use.
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Recovery has been a driver for policy and practice for thirty years, but this observational study leaves questions about how embedded it really is.
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Sahar Seidl summarises a qualitative study on the ontological insecurity of inattentiveness, which looks at how risk management processes in acute psychiatric care can have a negative impact on patient recovery.
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John Baker reflects on a recent review on rates and risk factors of coercion in inpatient child and adolescent mental health services.
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