A study of the factors affecting AMHPs’ decision-making
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A study of the factors affecting AMHPs’ decision-making contexts in Mental Health Act assessments
IRAS ID
231168
Contact name
Jill Hemmington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Central Lancashire
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 9 months, 24 days
Research summary
Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) undertake assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983 (as amended 2007) (MHA) and have overall responsibility for the decision to detain (or not) in hospital without an individual’s consent. AMHPs are required by law to act autonomously and to make independent decisions, free from the influence of others whilst operating within a complex system. Factors such as legislative duties, professional background and value base, organizational and environmental contexts, and affective and relational issues, can all potentially influence decision-making. So far there has been limited research attention given to this aspect of implementing mental health law. Further, how AMHPs implement the statutory ‘Empowerment and Involvement’ principle (DOH, 2015) and engage in shared decision-making (SDM) in the context of MHA assessment are also poorly understood.
A naturalistic, qualitative approach will be used to gather in-depth information about AMHPs’ experiences and perspectives and to consider the impact of the surrounding imperatives on practice. Ethnographic observations within an AMHP service, and then observations of ten to fifteen MHA assessments will be conducted, followed by in-depth interviews with individual AMHPs and the service users involved in these assessments. Participants will all be drawn from one Local Authority in England but based in different AMHP teams (the central hub and several locality teams) to afford an opportunity to consider different organizational structures. Applied Conversation Analysis (CA) will support examination of content and style of communication as well as interactions, power relations and the extent to which SDM is (or is not) a reality in MHA assessment.
The study will meet a gap in knowledge and a significant contribution to knowledge will be generated from better understanding the AMHP role, its scope and limitations, and factors affecting AMHPs’ decision-making processes.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0024
Date of REC Opinion
24 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion