What helps and hinders people moving on from secure psychiatric care?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What are the perceptions of patients, carers and staff about what helps and hinders patients move on from medium secure psychiatric care and return to the community?
IRAS ID
160077
Contact name
Paul Horobin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
This qualitative study is planned to be carried out in a male medium secure psychiatric unit where the principal investigator works. These units fulfil the purposes for society of detaining people who are deemed to pose a serious risk to others and/or themselves alongside having a diagnosis of a mental illness 'of a nature or degree' to warrant detention (Mental Health Act 2007).
Such forensic care aims to both remove people from society whilst they pose this significant risk, but also essentially to work with them while detained in order to effect rehabilitation aimed at helping them return to society with a much reduced level of risk of further offending or hazardous behaviour. This therapeutic aspect of secure care is fundamental to the work of these units (NHS England, 2010).
Not much is known about the reasons that patients engage or otherwise in therapeutic work and what they regard as useful to them in the future. There is presently little research that seeks specifically to do this. Other studies have focused on targeted outcome measures related to particular intervention programmes, general approaches to risk assessment and predictors of recidivism (particularly medication compliance), or through general surveys of satisfaction with care or quality of life measures.
Using a qualitative approach of interviews, this study seeks to work with patients, carers and staff to answer the question of what, in their experience of the unit, they feel is done or offered that helps or hinders patients as they contemplate return to the community. Eliciting these perspectives from various groups, it aims to enrich understanding of the drivers and barriers to therapeutic work in secure units and how patient engagement may be supported and enhanced with a view to improving outcomes.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0298
Date of REC Opinion
16 Apr 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion