TY - JOUR

T1 - Recovery orientation in mental health inpatient settings

T2 - Inpatient experiences?

AU - Waldemar, Anna Kristine

AU - Esbensen, Bente Appel

AU - Korsbek, Lisa

AU - Petersen, Lone

AU - Arnfred, Sidse

N1 - © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Offering mental health treatment in line with a recovery-oriented practice has become an objective in the mental health services in many countries. However, applying recovery-oriented practice in inpatient settings seems challenged by unclear and diverging definitions of the concept in and the organization of these settings. In Denmark, educational and organizational efforts have been made to organize inpatient services with a recovery-oriented approach. Hence, we aimed to explore whether and how these efforts are reflected in the inpatients' experiences of their care and treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 inpatients from two mental health inpatient wards using an interview guide based on factors from the Recovery Self-Assessment. Qualitative content analysis was applied in the analysis. Six themes covering the participants' experiences were identified. The participants felt accepted and protected in the ward and found comfort in being around other people but missed talking and engaging with health professionals. They described limited choice and influence on the course of their treatment, and low information levels regarding their treatment, which they considered to consist predominantly of medication. Furthermore, they described feeling continuously observed and assessed from a distance by health professionals. Like the sparse previous research among inpatients, the results highlight ambivalent experiences of health professionals' support and ward structure as well as the medical treatment hegemony. As such, the educational and organizational efforts of introducing recovery-oriented practices in the wards seemed not very well reflected in the participants' experiences of their stay.

AB - Offering mental health treatment in line with a recovery-oriented practice has become an objective in the mental health services in many countries. However, applying recovery-oriented practice in inpatient settings seems challenged by unclear and diverging definitions of the concept in and the organization of these settings. In Denmark, educational and organizational efforts have been made to organize inpatient services with a recovery-oriented approach. Hence, we aimed to explore whether and how these efforts are reflected in the inpatients' experiences of their care and treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 inpatients from two mental health inpatient wards using an interview guide based on factors from the Recovery Self-Assessment. Qualitative content analysis was applied in the analysis. Six themes covering the participants' experiences were identified. The participants felt accepted and protected in the ward and found comfort in being around other people but missed talking and engaging with health professionals. They described limited choice and influence on the course of their treatment, and low information levels regarding their treatment, which they considered to consist predominantly of medication. Furthermore, they described feeling continuously observed and assessed from a distance by health professionals. Like the sparse previous research among inpatients, the results highlight ambivalent experiences of health professionals' support and ward structure as well as the medical treatment hegemony. As such, the educational and organizational efforts of introducing recovery-oriented practices in the wards seemed not very well reflected in the participants' experiences of their stay.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Denmark

KW - Female

KW - Hospitals, Psychiatric

KW - Humans

KW - Inpatients/psychology

KW - Interviews as Topic

KW - Male

KW - Mental Disorders/psychology

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Remission Induction/methods

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1111/inm.12434

DO - 10.1111/inm.12434

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29359397

VL - 27

SP - 1177

EP - 1187

JO - International Journal of Mental Health Nursing

JF - International Journal of Mental Health Nursing

SN - 1445-8330

IS - 3

ER -