Women's experiences of physical restraint and seclusion
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploratory study into women’s experiences of physical restraint and seclusion.
IRAS ID
257725
Contact name
Amy Scholes
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Evidence has suggested that women are more likely to experience serious mental health problems, due to vulnerabilities associated with: domestic violence, sexual abuse, income equality and having lower social status (WHO, 2013). This severity of distress may result in women in being admitted to inpatient services.
Within these environments physical restraint is utilised to “prevent service users from harming themselves, endangering others or compromising the therapeutic environment” (NICE, 2015). Physical restraint is defined as “any direct contact where the intervener’s intention is to prevent, restrict, or subdue movement of the body of another person” (DoH, 2014). Additionally in some inpatient environments; seclusion, defined as “the unplanned, supervised confinement and isolation of a person, away from other patients, in an area which the person is prevented from leaving” is employed as a strategy to manage behaviour that challenges (DoH, 2014).
Previous qualitative studies have captured service users negative experiences of these practices, which frequently precipitated a further deterioration in their mental health, due to the intervention being reminiscent of previous abuse/violence. Also there have been 38 service user restraint-related deaths during a 10 year period in the UK (Duxbury, 2015). The deleterious effects of physical restraint have driven government policy to reduce the use of restrictive practices in NHS settings. But despite these efforts, Agenda (2017) found that 1 in 5 women admitted to inpatient facilities were physically restrained, with more women than men experiencing face-down restraint. Furthermore, 32 women reportedly died after experiencing physical restraint over a 5 year period (Agenda, 2018).
The aim of this project is to explore women’s experiences of these practices within inpatient environments via interview, to inform a better understanding of how this practice could be reduced or adapted to prevent harm for women.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0266
Date of REC Opinion
15 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion