The examination of care available to women in a medium secure unit
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The examination of current care, support and interventions available to women in a medium secure unit leading to the development and evaluation of a new gender-sensitive approach.
IRAS ID
141211
Contact name
Susannah Walker
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Research summary
Women can be viewed as a minority population within the forensic services. Models of care created for the needs of men have been applied to the care of both genders, leading to concerns that a male-orientated approach may be negatively affecting females using the service. Literature on care in medium-secure mental health units has identified several differences in the clinical demands of male and female service-users, including contrasts between reasons for admission, psychiatric diagnosis and the nature of exhibited challenging behaviour.
The proposed research aims to explore the views, opinions and perspectives of service-users and clinical staff at a women’s medium-secure unit, with the hope that findings will inform the development of a new gender-specific approach which could potentially improve women’s care.
A mixed-methods approach involving two phases shall be employed. The first, qualitative phase will involve the thematic analysis of transcripts from semi-structured interviews. Service-users and members of the clinical team will be invited to describe and discuss the type of care and treatment available to them, their personal experiences whilst an inpatient or staff member, opinions on possible service improvements, and whether/how they feel gender may be an important factor.
Any findings will be combined with knowledge discerned from a search of existing literature and should provide a platform which it is hoped will guide the development of a gender-sensitive approach.
The second, quantitative, phase will involve the implementation of the new approach to measure effects on service-user satisfaction, quality of life, and level of functioning. Ward milieu will also be assessed, including numbers of serious incidents. Scales for each outcome will be completed four times over a six-month period.
For added insight, overt participant observation covering both phases will aim help to facilitate a multi-faceted understanding of the unit milieu and any changes that may occur.REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/0250
Date of REC Opinion
6 Aug 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion