Racism, early psychosis, and institutional contact: A qualitative study of Indigenous experiences.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence of Indigenous and ethnic minority inequities in the incidence and outcomes of early psychosis. Racism has been implicated as having an important role. AIM: To use Indigenous experiences to develop a more detailed understanding of how racism operates to impact early psychosis outcomes. METHODS: Critical Race Theory informed the methodology used. Twenty-three Indigenous participants participated in four family focus group interviews and thirteen individual interviews, comprising of 9 Maori youth with early psychosis, 10 family members and 4 Maori mental health professionals. An analysis of the data was undertaken using deductive structural coding to identify descriptions of racism, followed by inductive descriptive and pattern coding. RESULTS: Participant experiences revealed how racism operates as a socio-cultural phenomenon that interacts with institutional policy and culture across systems pertaining to social responsiveness, risk discourse, and mental health service structures. This is described across three major themes: 1) selective responses based on racial stereotypes, 2) race related risk assessment bias and 3) institutional racism in the mental health workforce. The impacts of racism were reported as inaction in the face of social need, increased use of coercive practices and an under resourced Indigenous mental health workforce. CONCLUSION: The study illustrated the inter-related nature of interpersonal, institutional and structural racism with examples of interpersonal racism in the form of negative stereotypes interacting with organizational, socio-cultural and political priorities. These findings indicate that organizational cultures may differentially impact Indigenous and minority people and that social responsiveness, risk discourse and the distribution of workforce expenditure are important targets for anti-racism efforts.

Más allá de la COVID: los retos éticos de la reanudación de los servicios de salud mental / Beyond COVID: the ethical challenges of restarting mental health services

El objetivo de este trabajo de reflexión es establecer los valores éticos que deberían sustentar el restablecimiento de la asistencia sanitaria tras las primeras oleadas de la COVID-19, sabiendo que los brotes y las nuevas olas parecen inevitables hasta la masiva vacunación. Por ello, consideraremos diferentes cuestiones éticas a tener en cuenta en la fase de reanudación de la actividad de las unidades asistenciales de salud mental, tanto por gestores como por las y los profesionales de las mismas. (AU)

This reflection paper aims to establish the ethical values that should underpin the re-establishment of health care after the first waves of COVID-19, knowing that outbreaks and new waves seem inevitable until mass vaccination. To this end, we will consider different ethical issues to be taken into account in the phase of resumption of activity in mental health care units, both by managers and professionals. (AU)

Ethical and Professional Considerations in Integrated Behavioral Health.

Integrated behavioral health models of care offer many benefits for patient experience and outcomes. However, multidisciplinary teams are comprised of professionals who each may have different professional norms and ethical obligations, which may at times be in conflict. This article offers a framework for negotiating potential conflicts between professional norms and expectations across disciplines involved in integrated behavioral health teams.

How Should Clinicians Execute Critical Force Interventions With Compassion, Not Just Harm Minimization, as a Clinical and Ethical Goal?

Responsibly determining whether and when to use potentially lifesaving force when caring for patients who are acutely mentally ill typically requires carefully applying 2 key ethical standards. First, short-term morbidity or mortality risk must be minimized. Second, potential long-term harm to a patient who is traumatized during a forcibly performed intervention and potential long-term consequences to a patient's trust in clinicians must be seriously considered. This article suggests these minimum standards in mental health care decision making are necessary but insufficient. It is proposed that clinicians' intentions and motivations should not be grounded merely in harm minimization; rather, they should be grounded in compassion maximization. The article then proposes criteria for what compassion maximization would look like in response to a case.

How Should Compassion Be Expressed as a Primary Clinical and Ethical Value in Anorexia Nervosa Intervention?

Use of force in the care of patients with severe anorexia nervosa is controversial but can be justified when the disorder becomes life-threatening. This commentary examines the role of force in compassionate care of an adolescent patient hospitalized with extreme anorexia nervosa and suggests strategies for reaching consensus, minimizing harm, and maximizing the chance of a therapeutic outcome when forced intervention is a compassionate thing to do.

Everyday ethics of suicide care: Survey of mental health care providers' perspectives and support needs.

Suicide occurs in people of all ages and backgrounds, which negatively affects families, communities, and the health care providers (HCPs) who care for them. The objective of this study was to better understand HCPs' perspectives of everyday ethical issues related to caring for suicidal patients, and their perceived needs for training and/or support to address these issues. We conducted a mixed methods survey among HCPs working in mental health in Québec, Canada. Survey questions addressed their perspectives and experiences of everyday ethical challenges they encounter in their practice with people who are suicidal, and their perceived needs for training and/or support therein. 477 HCPs completed the survey. Most participants mentioned encountering ethical issues when caring for people who are suicidal. The challenges HCPs encounter in their practice with people who are suicidal are numerous, including issues related to maintaining privacy, confidentiality, freedom and the therapeutic relationship. The lack of time, resources and professional support to address these issues was emphasized. Most HCPs reported that the training or education they have received does not allow them to address everyday ethical issues related to suicide care. In sum, there is a clear reported need for better training and support for HCPs who are offering care to people who are suicidal in relation to everyday ethical issues they encounter. Implications for practice include providing greater access to training, including access to specialists in ethics to address specific issues. This additional support could alleviate morally distressing situations for HCPs.

Perspectives of Veterans Affairs mental health providers on working with older adults with dementia and their caregivers.

Continuing education directed at building providers' skills and knowledge in geriatrics represents a practical approach to addressing the geriatric mental health (MH) care workforce shortage. To inform the development of professional training curricula, we surveyed MH providers (N = 65) at a Veterans Affairs medical center on working with older persons with dementia (PwD) and informal caregivers. Providers rated service provision to PwD and caregivers as highly important but endorsed modest self-efficacy. Half of respondents were minimally confident in managing risk of harm to self or others in a PwD. Respondents believed PwD can benefit from MH treatments, yet identified several barriers to providing care, including inadequate time and staffing resources. Interest in geriatric training topics was high. Findings demonstrate that MH providers at this site value care provision to PwD and caregivers, and desire additional training to serve this population. System-level barriers to MH care for PwD should also be identified and addressed.

E-mental health applications for depression: an evidence-based ethical analysis.

E-mental health applications (apps) are an increasingly important factor for the treatment of depression. To assess the risks and benefits for patients, an in-depth ethical analysis is necessary. The objective of this paper is to determine the ethical implications of app-based treatment for depression. An evidence-based ethical analysis was conducted. The material was meta-reviews and randomized control studies (RCTs) on app-based treatment. Based on the empirical data, an ethical analysis was conducted using the 3-ACES-approach by Thornicroft and Tansella. Apps may empower autonomy, offer an uninterrupted series of contacts over a period of time, show evidence-based benefits for patients with subclinical and mild-to-moderate-symptoms, are easily accessible, may be used for coordinating information and services within an episode of care, and are on the whole cost-effective. Their risks are that they are not suitable for the whole range of severity of mental illnesses and patient characteristics, show severe deficits in the data privacy policy, and a big variability in quality standards. The use of apps in depression treatment can be beneficial for patients as long as (1) the usefulness of an app-based treatment is assessed for each individual patient, (2) apps are chosen according to symptom severity as well as characteristics like the patient's level of self-reliance, their e-literacy, and their openness vis-à-vis apps, (3) manufacturers improve their privacy policies and the quality of apps.

Telepsychiatry and other cutting-edge technologies in COVID-19 pandemic: Bridging the distance in mental health assistance.

BACKGROUND: At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in China. The high potential of human-to-human transmission led to subsequent COVID-19 global pandemic. Public health strategies including reduced social contact and lockdown have been adopted in many countries. Nonetheless, social distancing and isolation could also represent risk factors for mental disorders, resulting in loneliness, reduced social support and under-detection of mental health needs. Along with this, social distancing determines a relevant obstacle for direct access to psychiatric care services. The pandemic generates the urgent need for integrating technology into innovative models of mental healthcare. AIMS: In this paper, we discuss the potential role of telepsychiatry (TP) and other cutting-edge technologies in the management of mental health assistance. We narratively review the literature to examine the advantages and risks related to the extensive application of these new therapeutic settings, along with the possible limitations and ethical concerns. RESULTS: Telemental health services may be particularly feasible and appropriate for the support of patients, family members and healthcare providers during this COVID-19 pandemic. The integration of TP with other technological innovations (eg, mobile apps, virtual reality, big data and artificial intelligence (AI)) opens up interesting future perspectives for the improvement of mental health assistance. CONCLUSION: Telepsychiatry is a promising and growing way to deliver mental health services but is still underused. The COVID-19 pandemic may serve as an opportunity to introduce and promote, among numerous mental health professionals, the knowledge of the possibilities offered by the digital era.

Psychiatric Advance Directives as an Ethical Communication Tool: An Analysis of Definitions.

A psychiatric advance directive (PAD) is a communication tool that promotes patients' autonomy and gives capacitated adults who live with serious mental illnesses the ability to record their preferences for care and designate a proxy decision maker before a healthcare crisis. Despite a high degree of interest by patients and previous studies that recommend that clinicians facilitate the completion of PADs, the rate of implementation of PAD remains low. Research indicates that many clinicians lack the necessary experience to facilitate the completion of PADs and to use them, and, as a consequence, do not effectively engage patients about PADs. This study developed practical recommendations for clinicians to improve their ability to communicate and facilitate PADs. We (1) thematically analyzed definitions of PADs published in 118 articles across disciplines, and (2) presented our recommendations for enhanced communication in clinical practice that emphasizes patient-centeredness, usefulness, and clarity, aligned with evidence-based practices that put patients' autonomy and understanding first. While there is no one-size-fits-all script to engage patients in complex conversations, our recommended strategies include an emphasis on patients' autonomy, the adaptation of word choices, the use of metaphor not simile, and checking for patients' understanding as effective methods of clinical communication.

Mental health, mental capacity, ethics, and the law in the context of COVID-19 (coronavirus).

The emergence of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in late 2019 and early 2020 presented new and urgent challenges to mental health services and legislators around the world. This special issue of the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry explores mental health law, mental capacity law, and medical and legal ethics in the context of COVID-19. Papers are drawn from India, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, and the United States. Together, these articles demonstrate the complexity of psychiatric and legal issues prompted by COVID-19 in terms of providing mental health care, protecting rights, exercising decision-making capacity, and a range of other topics. While further work is needed in many of these areas, these papers provide a strong framework for addressing key issues and meeting the challenges that COVID-19 and, possibly, other outbreaks are likely to present in the future.

Psychiatrists' opinion about involuntary outpatient reatment.

INTRODUCTION: Involuntary outpatient treatment (IOT) is a kind of compulsory outpatient treatment, whose aim is to improve the adherence to the treatment in people with severe mental illness and with no awareness of disease. In these cases, therapeutic abandonment involves a high risk of relapse, with appearance of disruptive and/or self-aggressive or hetero-aggressive behavior, repeated hospitalizations and frequent emergencies. The application of IOT is not an issue without contention. Therefore, the need of legislative regulation in Spain has been a controversial subject for several years, and there are both advocates and opponents. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to bring together the opinion of clinical psychiatrists and resident doctors in psychiatry on the involuntary outpatient treatment and its legislative regulation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: This study is descriptive in nature. The study population consists of 42 clinical professionals in mental health (32 psychiatrists and 10 resident doctors in psychiatry). At the beginning of this study (March 2018), some of these professionals were working in the Psychiatry Department's facilities of the University Hospital Complex of Huelva. A personal survey in paper form consisting of ten questions about IOT was carried out to each member of this study. RESULTS: 85.7% of clinicians know the current initiative that tries to carry out the legislative regulation of IOT, and 92.8% of them agree to such regulation. In this sense, 83.3% of them are against the fact that more coercive measures for the psychiatric patients such as the involuntary commitment or the civil incapacitation are regulated and IOT is not. On the one hand, 78.6% of the professionals in mental health believe that IOT is beneficial for the patients. Moreover, 95.2% of them think that is beneficial for their relatives, too. On the other hand, 78.6% of clinicians do not consider that the application of IOT to mentallyill patients is stigmatizing. CONCLUSION: The vast majority of clinicians think that the legislative regulation of involuntary outpatient treatment is necessary in Spain, and they think this treatment is beneficial not only for the patient but also for their family.

Ethical and Logistical Considerations of Caring for Older Adults on Inpatient Psychiatry During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought challenges to delivery of care for older adults on inpatient psychiatry. We describe two cases: patient A, a 62-year-old woman who initially refused screening for potential COVID-19, bringing up questions about threshold for capacity when public health is at risk and questions about whether screening for infection should be different in older adults. The other case, patient B, is that of an 83-year-old man who was on the unit when patient A tested positive, and brought up concerns for risk of dissemination in the context of wandering, spitting behaviors, and inability to adhere to room isolation or masking measures. We review measures taken to decrease risk of transmission and improve screening for infection in older adults.

[Appreciating COVID-19 as a child and adolescent psychiatrist on the move]. / Appréhender le COVID-19 au fil de l'eau en tant que psychiatre d'enfant et d'adolescent.

COVID-19 is a multi-organ disease due to an infection with the SARS-CoV2 virus. It has become a pandemic in early 2020. The disease appears less devastating in children and adolescents. However, stress, quarantine and eventually mourning have major impacts on development. It is difficult to describe what this pandemic implies for a child psychiatrist, other than by giving a first-hand account. I propose to go through the main ethical questions that have arisen; to describe how my hospital team has reorganized itself to meet the new demands and questions, in particular by opening a unit dedicated to people with autism and challenging behaviors affected by COVID-19; and to address, in a context of national discussion, how the discipline has sought to understand the conditions of a certain well-being during quarantine. Finally, I will try to conclude with more speculative reflections on re-opening.

Psychiatry and COVID-19: putting our best foot forward.

COVID-19 presents new challenges for psychiatry as clinical management, ethical dilemmas and administrative complications need to be addressed. The psychiatrist should protect the needs and rights of the mentally ill while maximising population health and ensuring solidarity, reciprocity and community well-being for all.