Abstract
"Background and aim: Negative perceptions of inpatient care have been shown to have considerable impact on clinical outcomes. Recent research has shown that service-users’ views of care in the first few days of an admission are a key factor in determining short and long-term clinical outcomes and chances of re-admission. Further, even though research showing that carer involvement in mental health treatment has clear positive clinical outcomes, carers still report feeling left out of community and inpatient admission care planning. Despite its clear value, there is little known about this transition period into psychiatric care from the perspective of service-users or carers. The aim of this study was to explore qualitatively the experiences of service-users and carers of the transition period.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 7 service-users and 7 carers who had recent experience of the transition into psychiatric inpatient care in South-West England. Convenience sampling was used, and thematic analysis undertaken to identify, analyse and report patterns found in the data.
Results: Three core themes were found: not being heard, initial experiences of admission and early experiences of ward staff. Whilst the majority of experiences reported were negative, some participants discussed highly valuable, positive experiences. Many of the sub-themes were linked via the importance to participants of meaningful communication in the transition period.
Conclusions: The results suggest that improving the extent to which service-users and carers feel listened to and understood, as well as increasing the levels of compassion, empathy and care from staff, is likely to improve experiences of the transition period and thereby improve clinical outcomes. Further clinical implications include the need to increase staff training and recruitment, improve protocols for early admission and increase the time available for mental health service staff to spend with carers during the transition period."