The ReCoN intervention: a co-created comprehensive intervention for primary mental health care aiming to prevent involuntary admissions.

BACKGROUND: Reducing involuntary psychiatric admissions is a global concern. In Norway, the rate of involuntary admissions was 199 per 100,000 people 16 years and older in 2020. Individuals' paths towards involuntary psychiatric admissions usually unfold when they live in the community and referrals to such admissions are often initiated by primary health care professionals. Interventions at the primary health care level can therefore have the potential to prevent such admissions. Interventions developed specifically for this care level are, however, lacking. To enhance the quality and development of services in a way that meets stakeholders' needs and facilitates implementation to practice, involving both persons with lived experience and service providers in developing such interventions is requested. AIM: To develop a comprehensive intervention for primary mental health care aiming to prevent involuntary admissions of adults. METHODS: This study had an action research approach with a participatory research design. Dialogue conferences with multiple stakeholders in five Norwegian municipalities, inductive thematic analysis of data material from the conferences, and a series of feedback meetings were conducted. RESULTS: The co-creation process resulted in the development of the ReCoN (Reducing Coercion in Norway) intervention. This is a comprehensive intervention that includes six strategy areas: [1] Management, [2] Involving Persons with Lived Experience and Family Carers, [3] Competence Development, [4] Collaboration across Primary and Specialist Care Levels, [5] Collaboration within the Primary Care Level, and [6] Tailoring Individual Services. Each strategy area has two to four action areas with specified measures that constitute the practical actions or tasks that are believed to collectively impact the need for involuntary admissions. CONCLUSIONS: The ReCoN intervention has the potential for application to both national and international mental health services. The co-creation process with the full range of stakeholders ensures face validity, acceptability, and relevance. The effectiveness of the ReCoN intervention is currently being tested in a cluster randomised controlled trial. Given positive effects, the ReCoN intervention may impact individuals with a severe mental illness at risk of involuntary admissions, as more people may experience empowerment and autonomy instead of coercion in their recovery process.

A treatment strategy for meeting life as it is. Patients' and therapists' experiences of brief therapy in a district psychiatric centre: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Young adults increasingly seek help for mental health problems. In 2016, a district psychiatric centre in Norway started a brief treatment program to provide early and effective help for moderate depression and anxiety. AIM: Exploring patients' and therapists' experiences of brief therapy, especially how the time limitation influences the treatment process. METHODS: Individual interviews with 12 patients and focus group interviews with eight therapists analyzed using systematic text condensation. RESULTS: The results constitute five themes: (1) Time-limit as a frame for targeted change, (2) Clarifying expectations and accountability, (3) Shared agreement on a defined treatment-project, (4) Providing tools instead of searching for causes, and (5) Learning to cope-not being cured. CONCLUSION: Time-limitation in brief therapy appeared to play a positive role, helping the therapists to structure the therapeutic process and strengthening patients' motivation. Shared understanding and activation during brief therapy may reinforce patients' responsibility and expectations to achieve individual goals. Brief therapy can be viewed as the start of a personal process towards "mastering life as it is". More research is needed to investigate the patients' long-term outcomes after treatment and to shed light on the potential for, and limitations of, mastering everyday-life.

Between No Help and Coercion: Toward Referral to Involuntary Psychiatric Admission. A Qualitative Interview Study of Stakeholders' Perspectives.

Objective: Paths toward referral to involuntary psychiatric admission mainly unfold in the contexts where people live their everyday lives. Modern health services are organized such that primary health care services are often those who provide long-term follow-up for people with severe mental illness and who serve as gatekeepers to involuntary admissions at the secondary care level. However, most efforts to reduce involuntary admissions have been directed toward the secondary health care level; interventions at the primary care level are sparse. To adapt effective measures for this care level, a better understanding is needed of the contextual characteristics surrounding individuals' paths ending in referrals for involuntary admission. This study aims to explore what characterizes such paths, based on the personal experiences of multiple stakeholders. Method: One hundred and three participants from five Norwegian municipalities participated in individual interviews or focus groups. They included professionals from the primary and secondary care levels and people with lived experience of severe mental illness and/or involuntary admission and carers. Data was subject to constant comparison in inductive analysis inspired by grounded theory. Results: Four main categories emerged from the analysis: deterioration and deprivation, difficult to get help, insufficient adaptation of services provided, and when things get acute. Combined, these illustrate typical characteristics of paths toward referral for involuntary psychiatric admission. Conclusion: The results demonstrate the complexity of individuals' paths toward referral to involuntary psychiatric admission and underline the importance of comprehensive and individualized approaches to reduce involuntary admissions. Furthermore, the findings indicate a gap in current practice between the policies to reduce involuntary admissions and the provision of, access to, and adaptation of less restrictive services for adults with severe mental illness at risk of involuntary admissions. To address this gap, further research is needed on effective measures and interventions at the primary care level.

Return-to-work self-efficacy after occupational rehabilitation for musculoskeletal and common mental health disorders: Secondary outcomes of a randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of adding a workplace intervention to inpatient occupational rehabilitation on return-to-work self-efficacy, and whether changes in return-to-work self-efficacy were associated with future work outcomes. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. SUBJECTS: Individuals aged 1860 years, sick-listed 212 months were randomized to multimodal inpatient rehabilitation with (n?=?88) or without (n?=?87) a workplace intervention. METHODS: Between-group differences for 4 months follow-up were assessed using linear mixed models. Associations between self-efficacy scores and future sickness absence days during 12 months of follow-up were assessed by linear regression. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant between-group differences in self-efficacy during follow-up. Participants with high or medium self-efficacy scores at the end of rehabilitation had fewer sickness absence days during follow-up compared with participants with low scores. Participants with consistently high scores or an increasing score throughout the programme showed fewer sickness absence days than those with reduced or consistently low scores. CONCLUSION: Receiving an added workplace intervention did not increase return-to-work self-efficacy more than standard inpatient occupational rehabilitation alone. High scores and a positive development in return-to-work self-efficacy were associated with higher work participation. This suggests that return-to-work self-efficacy could be an important factor to consider in the return-to-work process.

Patients' perspectives on three-monthly administration of antipsychotic treatment with paliperidone palmitate - a qualitative interview study.

INTRODUCTION: Three-monthly dosage of paliperidone palmitate entails longer time to relapse after discontinuation, is similarly tolerable and safe compared to monthly injections of paliperidone palmitate and is beneficial for the caregivers. However, few studies have so far explored in depth the patients' experiences with paliperidone palmitate medication every three months, or with switching from monthly to three-monthly injections of paliperidone palmitate. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A qualitative study based on individual interviews with persons with schizophrenia who receive three-monthly paliperidone palmitate in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Data was analysed according to qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients, 16 men and 8 women, took part in individual interviews. The patients' mental health care professionals mainly recommended the switch to three-monthly paliperidone palmitate, and few or no disadvantages were described. According to the patients, three-monthly paliperidone palmitate had several advantages, such as less frequent injections, less administration and planning and less focus on the illness. In addition, the participants described feeling more stability, being more physically and socially active, and that improvement processes were supported. For some, the use involved practical and economic challenges, and some worried whether the medicine 'wore off' before the next injection. According to the patients, switching to three-monthly paliperidone palmitate did not influence the frequency or content of patients' interaction with health care professionals. CONCLUSION: Switching from monthly to three-monthly injections with paliperidone palmitate seems to be experienced as advantageous for patients with schizophrenia.

Professionals' perspectives on factors within primary mental health services that can affect pathways to involuntary psychiatric admissions.

BACKGROUND: Reducing involuntary psychiatric admissions has been on the international human rights and health policy agenda for years. Despite the last decades' shift towards more services for adults with severe mental illness being provided in the community, most research on how to reduce involuntary admissions has been conducted at secondary health care level. Research from the primary health care level is largely lacking. The aim of this study was to explore mental health professionals' experiences with factors within primary mental health services that might increase the risk of involuntary psychiatric admissions of adults, and their views on how such admissions might be avoided. METHODS: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with thirty-two mental health professionals from five Norwegian municipalities. Data were analysed according to the Systematic Text Condensation method. RESULTS: Within primary mental health care professionals experienced that a number of factors could increase the risk of involuntary psychiatric admissions. Insufficient time and flexibility in long-term follow-up, limited resources, none or arbitrary use of crisis plans, lack of tailored housing, few employment opportunities, little diversity in activities offered, limited opportunities for voluntary admissions, inadequate collaboration between services and lack of competence were some of the factors mentioned to increase the risk of involuntary psychiatric admissions. Several suggestions on how involuntary psychiatric admissions might be avoided were put forward. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health professionals within primary mental health care experienced that their services might play an active part in preventing the use of involuntary psychiatric admissions, suggesting potential to facilitate a reduction by intervening at this service level. Health authorities' incentives to reduce involuntary psychiatric admissions should to a greater extent incorporate the primary health care level. Further research is needed on effective interventions and comprehensive models adapted for this care level.

Professionals' perceptions of the establishment of a specialized brief therapy unit in a district psychiatric centre - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Increasing mental health problems and scarce treatment resources put pressure on mental health services to make innovations in service provision, such as developing differentiated services adapted to different needs. One innovation in differentiated service provision is brief or short-term treatment to patients with moderate mental health problems. Implementing a new unit in an organization usually faces many potential barriers and facilitators, and knowledge on how the professionals providing the services perceive the implementation of innovative approaches in mental health services is scarce. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the professionals' perceptions of how the establishment of a specialized brief therapy unit had affected the organization, especially the everyday work in the outpatient clinics. METHODS: Eleven professionals, five men and six women, took part in individual interviews. All participants were between 40 and 60 years old and had leading or coordinating positions in the organization. Their professional backgrounds were within psychology, nursing and medicine, most of them specialists in their field. Data was analyzed according to Systematic text condensation. RESULTS: The professionals' experiences represented four main themes: (1) The brief therapy unit was perceived as successful and celebrated. (2) The general outpatient clinics, on the other hand, were described as "forgotten". (3) The establishment process had elucidated different views on treatment in the outpatient clinics - and had set off (4) a discussion regarding the criteria for prioritizing in mental health services. CONCLUSION: Providing targeted treatment to patients with moderate mental health problems, while having a concurrent aim to solve broader problems in mental health services, entails a discussion regarding resource use and the appropriate level of treatment provision. Professionals should be more involved when innovative efforts are implemented, and the criteria for success must be conceptualized and evaluated. Longitudinal research on the implementation of innovative efforts in the services should include professionals' and service users' perspectives.

Periodized resistance training for persistent non-specific low back pain: a mixed methods feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the feasibility of a 16-week supervised heavy resistance training program with weekly undulating periodization for individuals with persistent non-specific low-back pain (LBP). METHODS: Twenty-five adults with persistent non-specific LBP participated in this mixed methods feasibility study. Participants trained a whole-body program consisting of squat, bench press, deadlift and pendlay row two times per week for 16 weeks. We assessed pain intensity, pain-related disability, pain self-efficacy and one-repetition maximum strength at baseline, 8 weeks and 16 weeks. Three focus group interviews were conducted at the end of the program. Linear mixed models were used to assess changes in outcomes, and the qualitative data was assessed using systematic text condensation. RESULTS: We observed clinically meaningful reductions in pain intensity after 8 and 16 weeks of training. The mean difference on the numeric pain rating scale (0-10) in the last 2 weeks from baseline to 8 weeks was 2.6 (95% CI: 1.8-3.6) and from baseline to 16 weeks 3.4 (95% CI: 2.5-4.4). In addition, there were improvements in pain-related disability (3.9, 95% CI: 2.3-5.5), pain self-efficacy (7.7, 95% CI: 5.4-10.1) and muscle strength. In the focus group interviews, participants talked about challenges regarding technique, the importance of supervision and the advantages of periodizing the training. Perceived benefits were improved pain, daily functioning, energy level and sleep, and changes in views on physical activity. CONCLUSION: Periodized resistance training with weekly undulating periodization is a feasible training method for this group of individuals with persistent non-specific LBP. A randomized clinical trial should assess the efficacy of such an intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov / Identifier - NCT04284982, Registered on February 24th 2020.

Inpatient multimodal occupational rehabilitation reduces sickness absence among individuals with musculoskeletal and common mental health disorders: a randomized clinical trial.

Objectives This study aimed to investigate whether inpatient multimodal occupational rehabilitation (I-MORE) reduces sickness absence (SA) more than outpatient acceptance and commitment therapy (O-ACT) among individuals with musculoskeletal and mental health disorders. Methods Individuals on sick leave (2-12 months) due to musculoskeletal or common mental health disorders were randomized to I-MORE (N=86) or O-ACT (N=80). I-MORE lasted 3.5 weeks in which participants stayed at the rehabilitation center. I-MORE included ACT, physical exercise, work-related problem solving and creating a return to work plan. O-ACT consisted mainly of 6 weekly 2.5 hour group-ACT sessions. We assessed the primary outcome cumulative SA within 6 and 12 months with national registry-data. Secondary outcomes were time to sustainable return to work and self-reported health outcomes assessed by questionnaires. Results SA did not differ between the interventions at 6 months, but after one year individuals in I-MORE had 32 fewer SA days compared to O-ACT (median 85 [interquartile range 33-149] versus 117 [interquartile range 59-189)], P=0.034). The hazard ratio for sustainable return to work was 1.9 (95% confidence interval 1.2-3.0) in favor of I-MORE. There were no clinically meaningful between-group differences in self-reported health outcomes. Conclusions Among individuals on long-term SA due to musculoskeletal and common mental health disorders, a 3.5-week I-MORE program reduced SA compared with 6 weekly sessions of O-ACT in the year after inclusion. Studies with longer follow-up and economic evaluations should be performed.

Effectiveness of adding a workplace intervention to an inpatient multimodal occupational rehabilitation program: A randomized clinical trial.

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace intervention (WI) added to an inpatient multimodal occupational rehabilitation program (I-MORE) on sickness absence. Methods In this researcher-blinded randomized controlled trial with parallel groups, individuals on sick leave due to musculoskeletal, unspecified- or common mental health disorders were randomized to I-MORE (N=87) or I-MORE+WI (N=88). I-MORE lasted 2+1 weeks (with one week at home in between) and consisted of "acceptance and commitment therapy", physical exercise, and work-related problem solving. The additional WI consisted of a preparatory part, a workplace meeting involving the sick-listed worker, the employer, and the primary rehabilitation therapist at the rehabilitation center, and follow-up work related to the meeting. The primary outcomes were number of sickness absence days and time until sustainable return to work (RTW) during 12 months of follow-up, measured by registry data. Results The median number of sickness absence days during the 12-month follow-up for I-MORE was 115 days [interquartile range (IQR) 53-183] versus 130 days (IQR 81-212) for I-MORE+WI. The difference between groups was not statistically significant (P=0.084). The hazard ratio for sustainable RTW was 0.74 (95% confidence interval 0.48-1.16; P=0.192) in favor of I-MORE. Conclusions This study provided no evidence in favor of I-MORE+WI compared to only I-MORE for long-term sickness absent individuals with musculoskeletal-, common mental- or unspecified disorders.

"I live, I don't work, but I live a very normal life"-A qualitative interview study of Scandinavian user experiences of schizophrenia, antipsychotic medication, and personal recovery processes.

PURPOSE: To illuminate user experiences of schizophrenia, reasons for receiving antipsychotic medication, and encounters with mental health services. DESIGN AND METHODS: 24 semistructured qualitative research interviews with schizophrenia patients treated with 3-monthly paliperidone palmitate across Scandinavia were synthesized in qualitative content analysis. FINDINGS: Participants describe considerable challenges in everyday functioning. Simultaneously, they rate their current mental and physical well-being high and seem satisfied with their lives. These pathways indicate personal recovery. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The participants emphasize the importance of trustful relations with healthcare professionals, therapeutic conversations, antipsychotic medication in a 3-monthly formulation, and support from relatives.

Respect, trust and continuity: A qualitative study exploring service users' experience of involvement at a Healthy Life Centre in Norway.

BACKGROUND: To meet the challenges caused by non-communicable diseases, Norway has established Healthy Life Centres within primary care to encourage a healthy lifestyle. To promote people's health and ensure high-quality services, user involvement in contemporary health care is regarded as essential. OBJECTIVE: To explore the experience of user involvement among Healthy Life Centre users participating in individual health consultations, followed by physical activity groups and/or diet courses. METHODS: This was a qualitative study based on twenty semi-structured individual interviews conducted between September 2015 and May 2016 at a Healthy Life Centre in Norway. Data were analysed using systematic text condensation. RESULTS: Being respected and having a trustworthy relationship with the professionals were found to be essential for the service users' involvement. Building a trustworthy relationship was disrupted for some service users by a lack of relational continuity. This lack of continuity jeopardized the continuation of professionals' awareness of the service users' challenges and personal goals. The service users' preferred levels of user involvement varied. Some service users did not always want to play an active part and instead wanted the professionals, as "experts," to decide. CONCLUSIONS: The findings imply that the professionals need to assess each service user's desires for involvement and consider how these can be met. Thus, user involvement cannot be understood without considering the particular setting and each individual service user's preferences for involvement. Relational continuity is needed to maintain the service users' challenges and goals throughout the services and to promote health behaviour changes.

The acceptance and commitment therapy model in occupational rehabilitation of musculoskeletal and common mental disorders: a qualitative focus group study.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine whether and how intended processes of behavioural change were reflected in participants' experiences after an inpatient occupational rehabilitation programme. The programme was transdiagnostic, lasted 3½ weeks and was based on the acceptance and commitment therapy model.Methods: Twenty-two participants (17 women and 5 men) took part in five qualitative focus group interviews after the programme. Analysis was data-driven, categorising participants' experiences using an initial explorative phenomenological approach. The emerging data-driven categories were re-contextualised within the theoretical framework of the therapy model.Results: The participants referred to experiences within all three intended domains of the model (openness, awareness, and engagement). Our results indicate that the transdiagnostic approach may have facilitated openness, while the attainment of flexible self-awareness was less evident. Participants expressed engagement and behavioural changes linked to personal values, but did not mention actions leading to imminent return to work.Conclusions: The results imply that for implementation in occupational rehabilitation, further development of this model is needed specifically regarding processes related to self-awareness and committed action towards work. These findings are relevant for the interpretation of results from randomised clinical trials on acceptance and commitment therapy in occupational rehabilitation.Implications for rehabilitationAcceptance and commitment therapy seems to be a feasible component in an occupational rehabilitation programme for persons with different diagnoses.A transdiagnostic approach mixing musculoskeletal pain disorders and common mental disorders in the same rehabilitation programme seems to facilitate the process of openness and acceptance.There is a need to further develop and operationalise some of the processes in Acceptance and commitment therapy to accommodate the approach to the occupational rehabilitation context.

Unfolding the values of work - therapists´ experience of addressing the return to work process in occupational rehabilitation based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

BACKGROUND: Facilitating return to work can be challenging due to the complexity of work disability. Few studies have examined rehabilitation programs based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy that intend to support return to work, and none have investigated therapists' experience with providing such programs. The aim of this study was therefore to explore therapists' experience of addressing the return to work process in an inpatient occupational rehabilitation program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. METHODS: This was a qualitative interview study supported by participant observation. Therapists were interviewed regarding their experiences with addressing return to work in an inpatient occupational rehabilitation program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. In addition, the rehabilitation program was investigated through participant observation. The interviews were analysed according to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and informed by an analysis of field notes from the participant observation. RESULTS: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy was experienced as a meaningful approach to facilitate return to work, as it allowed therapists to address all relevant aspects of the individual participant's life that might influence work participation. The therapists' twofold goal was to support participants in building both a meaningful life and sustainable work participation. To do so, they attempted to instil long-term and interrelated processes concerning ownership, causes of sick leave, relation to expectations, the values of work, and the scope of agency. CONCLUSION: Unfolding values connected to work participation might reconcile the tension between work and family life by integrating work with other areas of life. Providing work participation with personal meaning also seems especially commensurable with a context where economy presents a poor incentive for return to work. Therapists should, however, be attentive to the need to secure the prominence of return to work by relating participants' chosen themes explicitly to their return to work process. Therapists should also be aware of the dilemma that may arise when they attempt to refrain from providing advice while simultaneously encouraging actions they consider appropriate to facilitate sustainable work participation. In addition, having an individual-oriented approach to occupational rehabilitation may obscure the extent to which return to work is a multi-stakeholder process.

Design of a study evaluating the effects, health economics, and stakeholder perspectives of a multi-component occupational rehabilitation program with an added workplace intervention - a study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has suggested that interventions at the workplace might be the most potent ingredient in return to work interventions, but few studies have investigated the different effects of workplace interventions as part of occupational rehabilitation programs. The comprehensive design described in this article includes effect (on return to work and health outcomes), and health economic evaluations of a workplace intervention added to a multicomponent rehabilitation program. Qualitative and mixed method studies will investigate sick-listed persons', rehabilitation therapists' and employers' perspectives on the usability and outcomes of the rehabilitation program and the workplace intervention. The program and intervention are provided to patients with musculoskeletal, psychological or general and unspecified diagnoses. The program is multi-component and includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, physical exercise, patient education and creating a plan for increased work participation. METHODS: Persons who are employed, aged from 18 to 60 years, with a current sick leave status of 50% or more and a diagnosis within the musculoskeletal, psychological or general and unspecified chapters of International Classification of Primary Care-2 (ICPC-2) will be recruited to a researcher-blinded parallel-group randomized controlled trial. All participants take part in an in-patient occupational rehabilitation program, while the intervention group also takes part in an intervention at the workplace. The effect and economic evaluation will investigate the effect of the added workplace intervention. The primary outcome measures will be time until full sustainable return to work and total number of sickness absence days in the 12 months after inclusion. Health economic evaluations will investigate the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility. Qualitative studies will investigate rehabilitation therapists' experiences with working towards return to work within an ACT-approach and stakeholders' experiences with the workplace intervention. A mixed methods study will combine quantitative and qualitative findings on the participants' expectations and motivation for return to work. DISCUSSION: The outline of this comprehensive study could represent an important addition to the standard designs of return to work evaluation. The mixed methods design, with qualitative approaches as well as a rigorous randomized controlled trial, might prove useful to shed light on contextual factors. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov : NCT02541890 . September 4, 2015.

Sick-listed persons' experiences with taking part in an in-patient occupational rehabilitation program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: a qualitative focus group interview study.

BACKGROUND: Occupational medicine has shifted emphasis from disease treatment to disability rehabilitation and management. Hence, newly developed occupational rehabilitation programs are often generic and multicomponent, aiming to influence the sick-listed persons' perception on return to work, and thereby support the return to work process. The aim of this study was to explore sick-listed persons' experiences with taking part in an in-patient occupational rehabilitation program based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. METHODS: Twenty-nine adults on sickness benefit or work assessment allowance due to musculoskeletal and/or common mental health disorders participated in this study. They were interviewed in focus groups at the beginning and at the end of a 3.5 week inpatient group-based occupational rehabilitation program in Central Norway. Key elements in the program were Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), physical exercise and creating a work-participation plan. The program was mainly group-based including participants with different diagnoses. Data was analyzed according to a phenomenological approach. RESULTS: At the start of the program most participants expressed frustration regarding being sick-listed, external anticipations as well as hindrances towards returning to work, and described hope that the program would provide them with the skills and techniques necessary to cope with health problems and being able to return to work. At the end of the program the participants described that they had embarked upon a long process of increased awareness. This process encompassed four areas; an increased awareness of what was important in life, realizing the strain from external expectations and demands, a need to balance different aspects of life, and return to work as part of a long and complex process. CONCLUSIONS: The occupational rehabilitation program induced a perceived meaningful reorientation encompassing several aspects of life. However, the return to work process was described as diffuse and uncertain for most participants. The providers of occupational rehabilitation program should balance this reorientation with specific steps towards return to work. Effect studies and long-term qualitative studies evaluating how this affects long-term work- and health outcomes are underway.

Does implementing a development plan for user participation in a mental hospital change patients' experience? A non-randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Governments in several countries attempt to strengthen user participation through instructing health-care organizations to implement user participation initiatives. There is, however, little knowledge on the effect on patients' experience from comprehensive plans for enhancing user participation in whole health service organizations. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether implementing a development plan intending to enhance user participation in a mental hospital had any effect on the patients' experience of user participation. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A non-randomized controlled study including patients in three mental hospitals in Central Norway, one intervention hospital and two control hospitals. INTERVENTIONS: A development plan intended to enhance user participation was implemented in the intervention hospital as a part of a larger reorganizational process. The plan included establishment of a patient education centre and a user office, purchase of user expertise, appointment of contact professionals for next of kin and improvement of the centre's information and the professional culture. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceptions of Care, Inpatient Treatment Alliance Scale and questions made for this study. RESULTS: A total of 1651 patients participated. Implementing a development plan in a mental hospital intending to enhance user participation had no significant effect on the patients' experience of user participation. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS: The lack of effect can be due to inappropriate initiatives or challenges in implementation processes. Further research should ensure that initiatives and implementation processes are appropriate to impact the patients' experience.

How do patients with severe mental diagnosis cope in everyday life - a qualitative study comparing patients' experiences of self-referral inpatient treatment with treatment as usual?

BACKGROUND: Several hospitals in Norway provide short self-referral inpatient treatment to patients with severe mental diagnosis. No studies have compared the experiences of patients who have had the opportunity to self-refer to inpatient treatment with patients who have received treatment as usual. This qualitative study was nested within a randomised controlled trial investigating the effect of self-referral to inpatient treatment. The aim was to explore how patients with severe mental diagnosis coped four months after signing a contract for self-referral, as compared to patients receiving treatment as usual. METHODS: Data was collected using qualitative individual interviews with patients with severe mental diagnosis, conducted four months after being randomised either to a contract for self-referral (intervention group) or to treatment as usual (control group). RESULTS: Twenty-five patients participated in interviews - 11 from the intervention group and 14 from the control group. Results four months after randomisation showed that patients with a contract for self-referral appeared to have more confidence in strategies to cope with mental illness and to apply more active cognitive strategies. Patients with a contract also expressed less resignation, hopelessness and powerlessness than patients without a contract. In addition, patients with a contract seemed to be closer to the ideal of living a "normal" life and being a "normal" person. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that the patients who had a contract for self-referral had come further in the recovery process and should possibly be better off during treatment.

Experiences from the implementation of a comprehensive development plan for user involvement in a mental health hospital: A qualitative case study.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated user involvement initiatives in whole organizations. The aim was to explore the experiences of professionals and user representatives taking part in the implementation of a user involvement plan. MATERIALS: A qualitative study in a mental health hospital included interviews and observational data. DISCUSSION: Three different stories emerged. The first described the implementation as a success. The second described the implementation as a success, but after overcoming several obstacles. The third described that the development plan had limited impact. CONCLUSIONS: Close attention should be made to decision-making and resource allocation when implementing user involvement.

Safely cared for or empowered in mental health care? Yes, please.

BACKGROUND: High-quality health services include both safe care as well as involving service users in treatment and decision-making. MATERIAL: The aim was to explore how mental health service users perceive the relationship between safe care on the one hand and increased influence and decision-making on the other. This was a qualitative study of 15 User Interviewing User evaluation reports, including 417 service users. DISCUSSION: Safe and predictable care was essential in poor illness phases, while increased influence and independence were more important in better phases. CONCLUSIONS: High-quality services are flexible enough to adjust to users' varying symptoms and needs.