Views on seclusion and restraint, and ways to reduce their use

More than 1,000 Australian participants completed the survey, responding from the viewpoint of consumers, carers and clinicans/providers. Carers and consumers across three states also discussed restrictive practices in depth across six seperate focus groups, as well as discussing their views on how these practices can be reduced.

Prof Bernadette McSherry from the Melbourne Social Equity Institute led the project, in partnership with Cath Roper and Assoc. Prof Bridget Hamilton from the Centre for Psychiatric Nursing (School of Health Sciences), and Assoc. Prof Lisa Brophy and Prof Stuart Kinner from the Centre for Mental Health (School of Population Health).

The findings of this survey and focus groups are important for defining what these practices are, gauging the levels of support for their use, and for gathering views about how to reduce restrictive practices in health service settings:

Kinner, S. A., Harvey, C., Hamilton, B., Brophy, L., Roper, C., McSherry, B., Young, J.T. (2016) Attitudes towards seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: findings from a large, community based survey of consumers, carers and mental health professionals. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 1 - 10

Brophy, L., Roper, C., Hamilton, B., Tellez, J., McSherry, B., (2016) Consumers and Carer perspectives on poor practice and the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health settings: results from Australian focus groups. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 10:1

Brophy, L., Roper, C., Hamilton, B., Tellez, J., McSherry, B., (2016) Consumers and their supporters’ perspectives on barriers and strategies to reducing seclusion and restraint in mental health settings. Australian Health Review 40, 599-604.