Clinical Outcomes Following Acute Residential Psychiatric Treatment in Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents.

Importance: Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals, who have a gender identity that differs from their sex assigned at birth, are at increased risk of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, self-injurious behavior, and suicidality, relative to cisgender peers. Objective: To examine mental health outcomes among TGD vs cisgender adolescents in residential treatment. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study's longitudinal design was used to compare groups at treatment entry and discharge, and 1-month postdischarge follow-up. The setting was an adolescent acute residential treatment program for psychiatric disorders. Participants were TGD or cisgender adolescents enrolled in the treatment program. Statistical analysis was performed October 2019 to March 2021. Exposure: Adolescents participated in a 2-week acute residential treatment program for psychiatric disorders. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were depressive (the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]) and anxiety (the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children [MASC]) symptoms, and emotional dysregulation (the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale [DERS]), measured at treatment entry and discharge, and postdischarge follow-up. Age of depression onset, suicidality, self-injury, and childhood trauma also were assessed at treatment entry. Results: Of 200 adolescent participants who completed treatment entry and discharge assessments, the mean (SD) age was 16.2 (1.5) years; 109 reported being assigned female at birth (54.5%), 35 were TGD (17.5%), and 66 (49.3%) completed 1-month follow-up. TGD participants had an earlier mean (SD) age of depression onset (TGD: 10.8 [2.4] years vs cisgender: 11.9 [2.3] years; difference: 1.07 years; 95% CI, 0.14-2.01 years; P = .02), higher mean (SD) suicidality scores (TGD: 44.4 [23.1] vs cisgender: 28.5 [25.4]; difference: 16.0; 95% CI, 6.4-25.5; P = .001), more self-injurious behavior (mean [SD] RBQ-A score for TGD: 3.1 [2.5] vs cisgender: 1.7 [1.9]; difference: 1.42; 95% CI, 0.69-2.21; P = .001) and more childhood trauma (eg, mean [SD] CTQ-SF score for emotional abuse in TGD: 12.7 [5.4] vs cisgender: 9.8 [4.7]; difference: 2.85; 95% CI, 1.06-4.64; P = .002). The TGD group also had higher symptom scores (CES-D mean difference: 7.69; 95% CI, 3.30 to 12.08; P < .001; MASC mean difference: 7.56; 95% CI, 0.46 to 14.66; P = .04; and DERS mean difference: 18.43; 95% CI, 8.39 to 28.47; P < .001). Symptom scores were significantly higher at entry vs discharge (CES-D mean difference, -12.16; 95% CI, -14.50 to -9.80; P < .001; MASC mean difference: -3.79; 95% CI, -6.16 to -1.42; P = .02; and DERS mean difference: -6.37; 95% CI, -10.80 to -1.94; P = .05) and follow-up (CES-D mean difference: -9.69; 95% CI, -13.0 to -6.42; P < .001; MASC mean difference: -6.92; 95% CI, -10.25 to -3.59; P < .001; and DERS mean difference: -12.47; 95% CI, -18.68 to -6.26; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found mental health disparities in TGD youth relative to cisgender youth, with worse scores observed across assessment time points. For all participants, primary clinical outcome measures were significantly lower at treatment discharge than at entry, with no significant differences between discharge and 1-month follow-up. Given the substantial degree of mental health disparities reported in TGD individuals, these findings warrant focused clinical attention to optimize treatment outcomes in gender minority populations.

COVID-19 infection rates in patients referred for psychiatric admission during a regional surge: The case for universal testing.

Some psychiatric hospitals have instituted mandatory COVID-19 testing for all patients referred for admission. Others have permitted patients to decline testing. Little is known about the rate of COVID-19 infection in acute psychiatric inpatients. Characterizing the proportion of infected patients who have an asymptomatic presentation will help inform policy regarding universal mandatory versus symptom-based or opt-out testing protocols. We determined the COVID-19 infection rate and frequency of asymptomatic presentation in 683 consecutively admitted patients during the surge in the New York City region between April 3rd, 2020 and June 8th, 2020. Among these psychiatric inpatients, there was a 9.8 % overall rate of COVID-19 infection. Of the COVID-19 infected patients, approximately 76.1 % (51/67) either had no COVID-19 symptoms or could not offer reliable history of symptoms at the time of admission. Had they not been identified by testing and triaged to a COVID-19 positive unit, they could have infected others, leading to institutional outbreak. These findings provide justification for psychiatric facilities to maintain universal mandatory testing policies, at least until community infection rates fall and remain at very low levels.

Occupational gender roles in relation to workplace stress, allostatic load, and mental health of psychiatric hospital workers.

OBJECTIVES: Gendered inequalities in workplace stress are linked to sex-specific health trajectories that are poorly understood. Measuring gendered inequalities is challenging but necessary to better explain individual differences in occupational health. The aim of this exploratory, retrospective study was to create a measure of occupational gender-roles and use structural equation models to investigate pathways linking layers of gendered factors to workplace stress, allostatic load, and mental health in a sample of psychiatric hospital workers (N = 192). METHODS: Individual-level gender-roles were measured with the Bem Sex-Role Inventory Short-Form. Occupational gender-roles were measured using a novel web-based survey approach. Sex-specific allostatic load indices were constructed using 23 biomarkers (e.g., neuroendocrine, immune, cardiovascular, and metabolic). Workplace stress was assessed using the Job Content Questionnaire and the Effort-Reward at Work Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, burnout symptoms with the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey, and trauma symptoms with the PTSD Civilian Checklist. RESULTS: Individual-level masculine gender-roles were positively associated with psychological demands (R2 = 0.103) and social support (R2 = 0.078). Masculine and feminine occupational gender-roles were positively associated with decisional latitude (R2 = 0.157) and effort-reward ratio (R2 = 0.058). Both individual masculine and feminine gender-roles had protective effects on depressive symptoms (R2 = 0.289) and burnout symptoms (R2 = 0.306) but only individual masculine gender-roles had protective effects on trauma symptoms (R2 = 0.198). We found no association between occupational gender-roles and mental health and allostatic load. CONCLUSION: Beyond individual gender-roles, our study shows the utility of measuring occupational gender-roles to delineate associations between workplace stressors and mental health that should be applied in future studies of sex differences in occupational health.

Prevalence of burnout among nurses working at a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape.

BACKGROUND: Nurses are exposed to stress when working in the mental health care environment. This may be because of nurses being frontline health care providers. They develop close interpersonal relationships with mental health care users (MHCUs), which is inherent in the type of care that is provided. Mental health nursing may therefore be demanding and stressful, which could render mental health nurses susceptible to burnout. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of burnout among nurses working at a selected psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive, survey design, by using simple random sampling was used to select 198 nurses employed at a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa. Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey measuring emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment was used to collect the data. Domain scores were calculated, and the influence of the demographic variables on the domains was tested with independent samples Kruskal-Wallis tests and Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: The study had a 100% response rate. Most of the respondents experienced low emotional exhaustion, low depersonalisation and high personal accomplishment. Enrolled nursing assistants reported significantly higher emotional exhaustion than did the advanced psychiatric nurses and professional registered nurses. Respondents with more than 5 years of experience scored significantly higher in depersonalisation. No respondents met the criteria for burnout on all three domains. CONCLUSION: Maintaining a safe working environment with adequate nursing staff is recommended. Strategies to prevent burnout in the future include the provision of resources and the promotion of open communication between staff and management.

Working conditions in a mental health institution: An exploratory study of professional nurses in Limpopo province, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Professional nurses are responsible for the provision of care, treatment and rehabilitation of all mental healthcare users (MHCUs) in the institutions for mental healthcare. However, professional nurses find themselves in difficult circumstances under which they must provide quality healthcare services to MHCUs. OBJECTIVES: The study explored and described the challenges experienced by the professional nurses working in a mental healthcare institution in Limpopo province of South Africa. METHOD: A qualitative approach was used to explore and describe the challenges faced by professional nurses working in a mental healthcare institution. The study was conducted from July 2016 to December 2016. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Data were obtained through individual in-depth interviews with professional nurses between the ages of 26 and 50 years. Data collection continued until data saturation, which occurred after interviewing 18 participants. Tech's open coding method was used to analyse data in this study. RESULTS: Four themes emerged from data analysis, namely: inadequate safety measures, inadequate resources, impact of high workload and shortage of staff. The themes were further sub-divided into sub-themes. CONCLUSION: The study revealed several challenges that professional nurses face in mental healthcare institutions which might be a barrier to the provision of quality healthcare. Conducive working environments should be established to enable professional health nurses to provide quality nursing care, thereby promoting the health of MHCUs.

Palliative care for nursing home patients with dementia: service evaluation and risk factors of mortality.

BACKGROUND: Difficulties in prognostication are common deterrents to palliative care among dementia patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of palliative care in reducing the extent of utilization of medical services and the potential risk factors of mortality among dementia patients receiving palliative care. METHODS: We surveyed dementia patients involved in a palliative care program at a long-term care facility in Taipei, Taiwan. We enrolled 57 patients with advanced dementia (clinical dementia rating ≥ 5 or functional assessment staging test stage 7b). We then compared the extent of their utilization of medical services before and after the provision of palliative care. Based on multivariable logistic regression, we identified potential risk factors before and after the provision of palliative care associated with 6-month mortality. RESULTS: The utilization of medical services was significantly lower among dementia patients after the provision of palliative care than before, including visits to medical departments (p < 0.001), medications prescribed (p < 0.001), frequency of hospitalization (p < 0.001), and visits to the emergency room (p < 0.001). Moreover, patients dying within 6 months after the palliative care program had a slightly but not significantly higher number of admissions before receiving hospice care (p = 0.058) on univariate analysis. However, no significant differences were observed in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The provision of palliative care to dementia patients reduces the extent of utilization of medical services. However, further studies with larger patient cohorts are required to stratify the potential risk factors of mortality in this patient group.

Adherence to the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in Czech Psychiatric Hospitals: A Nationwide Evaluation Study.

This study sought to evaluate the quality of care in Czech psychiatric hospitals and adherence to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Each psychiatric hospital was evaluated by a team comprising a service user, a psychiatrist, a social worker, a human rights lawyer, and a researcher, all trained in using the World Health Organization's QualityRights Toolkit. We conducted content analysis on internal documents from psychiatric hospitals, observed everyday practices, and conducted 579 interviews across public psychiatric hospitals between 2017 and 2019. We found that none of the CRPD articles as assessed by the QualityRights Toolkit was fully adhered to in Czech psychiatric hospitals. We recommend both facility- and system-level interventions to improve CRPD adherence in the Czech context and in the wider region of Central and Eastern Europe. To achieve this, substantial investments are required.

[Quality of Psychiatric (Hospital) Care - Perspectives?] / Qualität der psychiatrischen (Krankenhaus-)Versorgung ­ Perspektiven?

Germany, in comparison to other countries, provides a good quality of services to distinct groups of patients. But as far as total expenditure for mental health services is concerned, it belongs to the top European states. The differentiation of services since the Expert Commission to the parliament (1975) was associated by fragmentation of the therapeutic alliances and the patient's relations in his or her personal social system. The management of intake to hospital treatment seems to need further improvement. Treatment paths which integrate distinct sectors are clinically tested in other countries and should be hold up as examples for politicians to further improve our mental health services. With the available resources, better and economically sound results could be reached. This is important for the future, a) because of increasing utilization of mental health treatment, b) to guarantee the quality of services for the chronic, severely mentally ill patients.

Protecting Youth in the Mental Health Service Settings.

The authors present the development of the field of psychiatry with the evolution of patient safeguards. They address the recent publicized events involving sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated by mental health service providers who have harmed youth who were under their direct psychiatric care. Recommendations are provided for primary care physicians and parents and legal guardians to further ensure patient safety.

Bucking the system: Mitigating psychiatric patient rule breaking for a safer milieu.

This article examines patients' understandings of rule breaking in the hospital setting. This work is important to inpatient psychiatric nursing because considering patients' perspectives about their own rule breaking can help nurses provide more therapeutic and safer patient care. The study finds that rule breaking behaviors are often a manifestation of patient resistance to institutionalization and loss of power. These behaviors are also related to nursing practice, as patients closely observe staff and look for gaps in the system to get away with or circumvent the rules. These findings suggest rule breaking behaviors can be reduced not by trying to further curtail the patient's autonomy but, rather, by changing the rules and/or how they are administered by staff to accommodate patients' perspectives and needs for freedom. Also, nurses must be clear in communicating with patients about the rationale for rules, and be consistent in how they enforce them.

Ensuring mental health care during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in France: A narrative review.

OBJECTIVE: The lack of resources and coordination to face the coronavirus epidemic raises concerns for the health of patients with mental disorders in a country where we still have memories of the dramatic experience of famine in psychiatric hospitals during the Second World War. This article aims to propose guidance to ensure mental health care during the SARS-CoV epidemic in France. METHODS: The authors performed a narrative review identifying relevant results in the scientific and medical literature and in local initiatives in France. RESULTS: We identified four types of major vulnerabilities among patients with mental disorders during this pandemic: (1) medical comorbidities that are more frequently found among patients with mental disorders (cardiovascular and pulmonary pathologies, diabetes, obesity, etc.) which are risk factors for severe covid-19 infection; (2) age (the elderly form the population most vulnerable to the coronavirus); (3) cognitive and behavioural disorders, which can hamper compliance with confinement and hygiene measures and finally and (4) psychosocial vulnerability as a result of stigmatization and/or socio-economic difficulties. Furthermore, the mental health healthcare system is more vulnerable than other healthcare systems. Current government plans are poorly suited to psychiatric establishments in a context of major shortages of organizational, material and human resources. In addition, a certain number of structural aspects make the psychiatric institution particularly vulnerable: many beds have been closed, wards have high densities of patients, mental health community facilities are closed, and medical teams are understaffed and poorly trained to face infectious diseases. There are also major issues when referring patients with acute mental disorders to intensive care units. To maintain the continuity of psychiatric care in this pandemic situation, several directions can be considered, in particular with the creation of "COVID+ units". These units are under the dual supervision of a psychiatrist and an internist/infectious disease specialist; all new entrants are placed in quarantine for 14 days; the nursing staff receives specific training, daily medical check-ups and close psychological support. Family visits are prohibited and replaced by videoconference. At the end of hospitalization, in particular for the population of patients in compulsory ambulatory care situations, specific case-management are organized with the possibility of home visits, in order to support patients when they get back home and to help them cope with the experience of confinement, which is liable to induce recurrences of mental disorders. The total or partial closure of community mental health facilities is particularly disturbing for patients, but a regular follow-up is possible with telemedicine and should include the monitoring of suicide risk and psycho-education strategies; developing support platforms could also be very helpful in this context. Private practice psychiatrists also have a crucial role of information towards their patients on confinement and barrier measures, and also on measures to prevent the psychological risks inherent in confinement: maintenance of regular sleep r, physical exercise, social interactions, stress management and coping strategies, prevention of addictions, etc. They should also be trained to prevent, detect and treat early warning symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, because their prevalence was high in the regions of China most affected by the pandemic. DISCUSSION: French mental healthcare is now facing a great and urgent need for reorganization and must also prepare in the coming days and weeks to face an epidemic of emotional disorders due to the confinement of the general population.

Leveraging Nurses to Improve Care for Patients with Concurrent Disorders in Inpatient Mental Health Settings: A Scoping Review.

Objective: Several challenges have been identified for patients with concurrent disorders and the providers that care for them, contributing to a pressing need for interventions to improve outcomes, particularly within inpatient mental health settings. Methods: A systematic search of peer-reviewed literature was conducted using four online databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE (Ovid), PsycInfo and Web of Science. Articles were selected based on inclusion criteria and additional articles were identified through hand searches. Study details were charted and qualitative synthesis was conducted. Results: Thirty two articles met inclusion criteria. A substantial focus within the literature was education, with higher levels of education shown to improve healthcare provider attitudes and practices. Within this overarching focus, four themes were identified: 1) education as an intervention to improve attitudes and increase confidence and knowledge; 2) strategies to support practice change, including interventions aimed at clinical leaders and methods to address substance use among inpatients; 3) frameworks to guide care; and 4) opportunities to expand nursing scope of practice. Conclusions: Given the substantial evidence indicating that education improves nurses' knowledge, attitudes and practices, there is great promise in expanding educational intervention opportunities for nurses to improve care and outcomes for patients with concurrent disorders-a priority patient population.

Just the Basic Facts: The Certification of Insanity in the Era of the Form K.

This paper investigates the certification of insanity through a standardized template called Form K which was used in Ontario between 1873 and 1883. My main thesis is that the introduction of the Form K had profound and long-lasting effects on the determination of insanity. In particular, it created a unique case in the history of certification, it grounded civil confinement on a strategy of consensus, and it informed mental health documentation for more than a century. As the result of a transnational mediation from Victorian England, the Form K prescribed an examination setting which involved a high number of participants, including three physicians and several witnesses. By comparing this case with other jurisdictions of the time, this paper shows how Ontario became a distinctive case worldwide. In order to get a closer look at this medico-legal procedure, I consider the archival records of the Toronto asylum and conclude that the certification of insanity relied on a strategy of consensus. While the Form K proved quite successful in preventing legal actions, it produced financial, logistic, and bureaucratic issues. The Form K was thus discontinued after a decade, yet its structure influenced Ontario's mental health documentation throughout the twentieth century. This paper shows the relevance of the certification of insanity for transnational history and for understanding contemporary issues of involuntary confinement and stigma in mental health.

A discrete choice experiment to identify the most efficient quality indicators for the supervision of psychiatric hospitals.

BACKGROUND: In the Netherlands, health care is regulated by the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate. Forty-six indicators are used to prioritize supervision of psychiatric hospitals. The objective of this study is to define a smaller set of weighted indicators which reflects a consensus among inspectors about which aspects are most important for risk assessment. METHODS: The set of 46 indicators, complemented with missing information, was reduced to six indicators by means of interviews, group discussions and ranking among the inspectors. These indicators were used as attributes in a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to define their weights. RESULTS: Twenty-six inspectors defined the top four indicators suitable for the risk assessment of psychiatric hospitals. These are: the policy on prevention of compulsory treatment; the policy on dysfunctional professionals; the quality of internal research after a serious incident; and the implementation of multidisciplinary guidelines on suicidal behaviour. These indicators share the same importance with regard to risk assessment. The screening of somatic symptoms and the policy on integrated care are important indicators too, but less relevant. CONCLUSION: Through a DCE, we reduced the amount of information for risk assessment of psychiatric hospitals to six weighted indicators. Inspectors can use these indicators to prioritize their inspections.

Exercise of human rights of institutionalized persons: perception of psychiatric hospital professionals.

OBJECTIVE: to comprehend the existing possibilities for the exercise of human rights by persons with mental disorders who are institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital, from the perception of professionals. METHOD: this is a qualitative descriptive-exploratory study conducted at a Psychiatric Hospital in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. For data obtention, eleven professionals responded to a semistructured questionnaire. The traditional content analysis proposed by Bardin based the data analysis. RESULTS: the professionals know the human rights and try to preserve them in the hospital scope, although they recognize that the persons hospitalized are not entirely respected due to the lack of public policies or their non-suitability to the Brazilian reality. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: the structuring of extra-hospital services is necessary, as well as the comprehension of the professionals that act in psychiatric hospitals about the objectives and the functioning of such devices to assure opportunities of exercising rights by institutionalized persons.

Staging and profiling for schizophrenia spectrum disorders: Inter-rater reliability after a short training course.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical staging and profiling have been proposed as a new approach in order to refine the diagnostic assessment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. However, only limited evidence is available for the inter-rater reliability of the clinical staging and profiling model. The aim of the present study was therefore to determine the inter-rater reliability of the clinical staging and profiling model for schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and to investigate whether a short course can improve inter-rater reliability. METHODS: Consecutively recruited inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders were included between January 2015 and January 2016 (study 1), and between March 2018 and October 2018 (study 2). By contrast with the assessors in study 1, all the assessors in study 2 were trained in clinical staging and profiling. We used the clinical staging model proposed by McGorry and identified profile characteristics. Inter-rater reliability was measured using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). RESULTS: The ICC score for clinical staging in study 1 was moderate (0.578). It improved considerably in study 2 (0.757). In general, the ICC scores for the profile characteristics in studies 1 and 2 ranged from poor to sufficient (0.123-0.781). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that inter-rater reliability in clinical staging was sufficient after training. However, inter-rater reliability for clinical profile characteristics was highly variable. The general implementation of the clinical staging model for schizophrenia spectrum disorders is therefore feasible but clinical profile characteristics should be used with caution.

Development of Quality Management Capacity in Child-Serving Nonprofit Agencies.

Quality or performance management capabilities allow agencies to identify effective practices in routine care, implement new practices, and learn to adapt practices as contexts change. Within child-serving human service systems there is not a dominant model of quality management capabilities and how they are deployed. Quality management capabilities and their development were explored at nine different child serving agencies. Agency respondents described four emergent core quality management capabilities: generating shared goals, managing information, routinizing problem-solving, and propagating a culture of quality. None of the nine agencies we studied excelled at all four. Each capability is described and implications for research, policy and practice are discussed.

The indistinguishables: determining appropriate environments for justice involved individuals.

Criminalizing those with mental illness is a controversial topic with a long and complex history in the United States. The problem has traditionally been dichotomized between criminals (i.e., "bad") in need of placement in jails and prisons and the mentally ill (i.e., "mad") who are need of treatment in psychiatric facilities. Recent trends demonstrate significant increases in the rates of mental illness in jails and prisons, as well as increased rates of violence within psychiatric hospitals. This would suggest that there are a group of justice involved individuals who are "indistinguishable" within the traditional dichotomous categories of dangerousness and mental illness. The authors argue for a more nuanced model that dimensionally conceptualizes dangerousness and mental illness; increased attention to situational factors that create facilities appropriate for those who are dangerous and mentally ill and more diversion programs for those inappropriate for incarceration or hospitalization.

Pediatric Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: A Call to Action for Inpatient Staff Training.

The rising prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) in pediatric populations along with the recent inclusion of NSSI as a condition for further study in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) have increased the focus on the assessment and treatment of NSSI among youth. Despite the frequent occurrence of NSSI in inpatient psychiatric treatment settings, there are no empirically based assessment protocols to guide clinical staff. This article presents findings from a needs assessment conducted with staff at a state-run child and adolescent inpatient treatment facility. The purpose was to assess the need for formalized NSSI training among staff. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate whether staff had received formal training in NSSI assessment and treatment as well as typical practice responses to patients engaging in NSSI behaviors. The questionnaire also evaluated staff comfort and confidence in their knowledge and skills concerning the assessment and treatment of NSSI among children and adolescents. Respondents were 126 clinical staff, most of whom were nursing staff. Only a minority of staff reported having received formal NSSI training, and a third of respondents indicated that they do not typically assess for NSSI at all. Although a substantial percentage of clinical staff self-reported comfort and confidence with assessing and treating NSSI, fewer than 10% demonstrated accurate skill. Formal training in NSSI is associated with positive outcomes for both patients and staff in general healthcare settings. These findings suggest that similar training for staff on pediatric inpatient psychiatric units will likely foster comfort, confidence, and accuracy, thereby improving outcomes for children and adolescents engaging in NSSI behaviors.