1,721,014 research outputs found
Impact of the Mental Health Nurse Incentive Programme on patient functioning
No full textThe Mental Health Nurse Incentive Programme (MHNIP) was established across Australia during 2007. The programme enables mental health nurses to work alongside general practitioners (GPs) and other health professionals to assist in the assessment and treatment of people with mental illnesses. This paper reports on the outcomes for 309 patients referred by GPs to the programme in one region of Queensland. Standardized measures were completed pre- and post-treatment to evaluate changes in symptoms and general functioning between baseline and follow up. Patient contact with the programme ranged from 3 weeks to 38 weeks, and the study group (n = 84) demonstrated significant improvement on all of the self-report and clinician-rated measures employed. Effect sizes ranged from 0.59 to 0.74. The findings suggest that the MHNIP is making a positive contribution, with a medium-to-large impact on the mental health and general functioning of individuals supported through the programme. Further evaluation work is required to determine if the findings from this study can be generalized more broadly
Patients' perceptions of seclusion : a qualitative investigation
No full textTwelve patients receiving acute in-patient psychiatric care in Queensland, Australia, participated in semi-structured interviews to elicit their perceptions of seclusion. All respondents had experienced time in seclusion within the 7 days prior to interview. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed using content analysis. Five major themes emerged: use of seclusion, emotional impact, sensory deprivation, maintaining control and staff-patient interaction. The prevailing negativity towards seclusion underscores the need for ongoing critical review of its use. In particular, the relationship between patient responses to seclusion and the circumstances in which seclusion takes place requires greater consideration. Interventions such as providing information to patients about seclusion, increased interaction with patients during seclusion, attention to privacy and effective debriefing following seclusion may help to reduce the emotional impact of the practice.\ud
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Inpatients had mostly negative experiences of seclusion during short term treatment in a mental health facility
No full textDesign\ud
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Semi-structured interviews.\ud
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Setting\ud
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2 open, acute care units of a large tertiary mental health facility in Queensland, Australia.\ud
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Patients\ud
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12 patients (58% men) who were 18–52 years of age and were secluded in the previous 7 days (mean duration 3.4 h).\ud
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Methods\ud
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Semi-structured, thematically organised interviews were audiotaped and transcribed. Transcripts were checked for errors against the audiotaped versions and were analysed using the process of meaning categorisation. Themes were identified and coded to produce categories. All members of the research team agreed on the final categorisations. These broad categories were further analysed, and themes were used to reflect patients' experiences of seclusion. \ud
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Main findings\ud
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5 recurrent themes emerged. (1) Patients described the use of seclusion. Some patients thought that seclusion was used inappropriately and that the seclusion period was of more benefit to
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