Exploring patient understanding of voluntary admission experience V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring how people make sense of and understand their experiences of voluntary psychiatric admissions to Acute Wards in East London; An Interpretative Phenomenological analysis.
IRAS ID
219410
Contact name
Catherine Iredale
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Acute Psychiatric Ward: Acute psychiatric wards are short-stay wards designed to treat people who are acutely distressed or “in crisis”. Average stay on an acute psychiatric ward is typically between 2 and 15 weeks.
Voluntary Admission: Voluntary admission is the process of making an informed choice to enter a psychiatric hospital for treatment and is an alternative to being admitted ‘involuntarily’ via a section of the Mental Health Act (1983).
Summary:
Voluntary Admission has become an increasingly popular method of admission since its introduction around a century ago. In the last ten years there has been a burst of literature exploring inpatient experience of voluntary psychiatric admission however relatively little research explores the individuals' nuanced experience and understanding of these admissions in depth.A greater understanding of this experience would be beneficial as hospital admissions are often a person’s first contact with mental health services. It is here they may first experience relationships with professional staff and research shows that therapeutic relationships shape future perceptions of services and willingness to engage with support. This study aims to provide a richer examination of individual experiences in order to promote the voice of service users and inform and guide staff practise.
Six participants will be identified from across the acute wards in East London Foundation NHS Trust. Potential participants will be approached by the clinical team to gain consent to discuss the study. Participants will be approached by the researcher either on the ward or following discharge by phone or at a community Recovery Team. Participants will be invited to engage in a semi-structured interview with the researcher. Interview questions will focus on participants' experiences and sense-making around their recent admission. Interviews will be transcribed and analysed by the researcher using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
REC name
London - Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1410
Date of REC Opinion
27 Sep 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion