Year: 2008
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Despite much debate on the ethical justification of involuntary treatment in psychiatry, there has been little systematic research on patients’ perspectives and the outcomes of such treatment. This study assessed characteristics and views of involuntary in-patients in East London using quantitative and qualitative methods. \n268 consecutive involuntarily admitted patients were interviewed within one week after admission as well as one month and three months later. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics and patients’ views on various aspects of their treatment were assessed. Factors associated with outcomes at three months were identified taking patients’ retrospective assessment as to whether the involuntary admission was justified as the main outcome criterion. (Secondary outcomes were patients’ satisfaction with treatment, symptom levels and global functioning). In the qualitative part, in-depth interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of 30 patients after discharge. \nThree months after admission, 63% believed that their sectioning was not justified. Patients who were employed, had limited social contacts, expressed more insight into their mental illness and more satisfaction with hospital treatment at baseline were more likely to find their sectioning justified. In in-depth interviews, patients who believed that they had been at risk and experienced serious mental health problems before admission found their admission justified. Those who perceived the hospital treatment as particularly poor and viewed the involuntary hospitalisation as a permanent threat to their autonomy expressed more negative views. \nIn good clinical practice patients’ views on their clinical status and perceived risk, as well as on the treatment they receive should be elicited and taken seriously, as they are linked to outcome. The focus on patients’ views should begin in the first week after admission. Patients’ concerns about their loss of autonomy should also be taken into consideration, with an emphasis on independence as a desired treatment \noutcome.
Author: Katsakou, Christina
Institution: Queen Mary University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7023560325