scholarly journals Personality Dynamics Behind Bars: Improving Mental Health Services in a Correctional Facility

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam P. Natoli

Mental health services provided in correctional facilities require improvement (Fazel et al., 2016). One strategy for improving care in these facilities may be to give consideration to a patient’s personality dynamics when planning interventions or interacting with the patient. Understanding a patient in the context of their personality dynamics can give members of a treatment team an increased ability to predict a patient’s experience of, and response to, different interventions, situations, and stimuli. This brief report identifies three treatment issues relevant to correctional settings and then uses clinical material from three cases to illustrate how conceptualizing each patient’s personality dynamics helped address these issues by facilitating more considerate and patient-centered interactions between staff and patient, assisting in the planning of behavioral interventions that are better suited for a patient’s personality, and by guiding approaches to building rapport and encouraging a patient’s engagement in their own treatment. These brief cases demonstrate the diverse utility of attending to each patient’s personality dynamics in correctional settings.

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S563-S563
Author(s):  
V. Damle ◽  
N. Bhandary

IntroductionAssessment and Treatment Team (ATT) was developed to manage mental health referrals within the borough of Blackburn with Darwen (BwD). The ATT became the main point of initial referral and assessment for adults presenting with mental health needs. It acts as the gateway service for access to specialist mental health services.AimTo evaluate the effectiveness of ATT against the key performance indicators.MethodsQuantitative data was collected using electronic database from June 2014–May 2015. Feedback was obtained from GPs and also from patients who attended ATT over a one-week period.ResultsThe ATT received a total of 2234 referrals. A total of 73% were seen within 10 working days of the referral. Assessment outcome letters were sent to the GPs within 48 h in 47.53% cases. Referral rates to community mental health and Crisis teams were 7% each showing an overall reduction compared to the previous service. GP satisfaction – 70% were ‘moderately satisfied’ and 30% were ‘very satisfied’ with ATT. Hundred percent felt the service was easily accessible and 90% felt that the staff were friendly. Patient Satisfaction – 96% of patients rated the team as ‘friendly and polite’. Eighty-seven percent reported that they were listened to and 91% felt their concerns were understood. Eighty-three percent felt that ATT involved them in their decision making. Ninety-two percent responded that they were likely/extremely likely to recommend ATT to their friends and family.ConclusionsThe establishment of ATT has led to improved satisfaction among GPs and service users and has resulted in reduction in referrals to secondary mental health services.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Durand ◽  
Marie-Josée Fleury

Abstract Background: The successful combination of interprofessional collaboration in multidisciplinary teams with patient-centered care is necessary when it comes to delivering complex mental health services. Yet collaboration is challenging and patient-centered care is intricate to manage. This study examines correlates of patient-centered care such as team adaptivity and proactivity, collaboration, belief in interprofessional collaboration and informational role self-efficacy in multidisciplinary mental health teams.Method: A cross-sectional multilevel survey design was used, based on self-administered bilingual validated questionnaires. Participants (N=314) were mental health professionals and managers working in public primary care or specialized mental health services, in inpatient or outpatient settings. Results: This study showed that belief in interprofessional collaboration’s relationship with patient-centered perceptions is increased in teams with high collaboration. Collaboration is also found as a mediator, representing a process by which team adaptive and proactive behaviors are transformed into positive patient-centered perceptions.Conclusions: Our results were in line with recent studies on team processes establishing that collaboration is a key component in multilevel examinations of predictors of patient-centered care. In terms of practice, our study showed that multidisciplinary teams should know that working hard on collaboration is an answer to the complexity of patient-centered care. Collaboration is related to the teams’ ability to respond to its challenges. It is also related to individuals’ beliefs central to the delivery of interprofessional care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
François Durand ◽  
Marie-Josée Fleury

Abstract Background The successful combination of interprofessional collaboration in multidisciplinary teams with patient-centered care is necessary when it comes to delivering complex mental health services. Yet collaboration is challenging and patient-centered care is intricate to manage. This study examines correlates of patient-centered care such as team adaptivity and proactivity, collaboration, belief in interprofessional collaboration and informational role self-efficacy in multidisciplinary mental health teams. Method A cross-sectional multilevel survey design was used, based on self-administered bilingual validated questionnaires. Participants (N=314) were mental health professionals and managers working in public primary care or specialized mental health services, in inpatient or outpatient settings. Results This study showed that belief in interprofessional collaboration’s relationship with patient-centered perceptions is increased in teams with high collaboration. Collaboration is also found as a mediator, representing a process by which team adaptive and proactive behaviors are transformed into positive patient-centered perceptions. Conclusions Our results were in line with recent studies on team processes establishing that collaboration is a key component in multilevel examinations of predictors of patient-centered care. In terms of practice, our study showed that multidisciplinary teams should know that working hard on collaboration is an answer to the complexity of patient-centered care. Collaboration is related to the teams’ ability to respond to its challenges. It is also related to individuals’ beliefs central to the delivery of interprofessional care.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Durand ◽  
Marie-Josée Fleury

Abstract Background: The successful combination of interprofessional collaboration in multidisciplinary teams with patient-centered care is necessary when it comes to delivering complex mental health services. Yet collaboration is challenging and patient-centered care is intricate to manage. This study examines correlates of patient-centered care such as team adaptivity and proactivity, collaboration, belief in interprofessional collaboration and informational role self-efficacy in multidisciplinary mental health teams.Method: A cross-sectional multilevel survey design was used, based on self-administered bilingual validated questionnaires. Participants (N=314) were mental health professionals and managers working in public primary care or specialized mental health services, in inpatient or outpatient settings. Results: This study showed that belief in interprofessional collaboration’s relationship with patient-centered perceptions is increased in teams with high collaboration. Collaboration is also found as a mediator, representing a process by which team adaptive and proactive behaviors are transformed into positive patient-centered perceptions.Conclusions: Our results were in line with recent studies on team processes establishing that collaboration is a key component in multilevel examinations of predictors of patient-centered care. In terms of practice, our study showed that multidisciplinary teams should know that working hard on collaboration is an answer to the complexity of patient-centered care. Collaboration is related to the teams’ ability to respond to its challenges. It is also related to individuals’ beliefs central to the delivery of interprofessional care.


Author(s):  
Jeffrey L. Metzner ◽  
Kenneth L. Appelbaum

Just as in community settings, there is a continuum of care for mentally ill inmates in correctional settings. This continuum progresses from ambulatory care through supported residential housing to inpatient or infirmary care. The continuum of care for inmates with mental illness includes outpatient care, emergency services, day treatment, supported residential housing, infirmary care, and inpatient psychiatric hospitalization services. Outpatient treatment is the least intensive level of care. In some systems this may include a day treatment program, which provides enhanced mental health services similar to a residential program as described below. In the case of outpatient treatment, participating inmates live in a general population housing unit with other inmates, many of whom are not in need of mental health services. A residential program (i.e., housing unit) within the correctional setting is provided for inmates with chronic mental illness who do not require inpatient treatment but do require enhanced mental health services. Such a designated housing unit can provide a safe and therapeutic environment for those unable to function adequately within the general inmate population. Crisis intervention services include both brief counseling and supervised stabilization. The latter, often provided in an infirmary setting, serve short-term stabilization and/or diagnostic purposes. A psychiatric inpatient program is the most intensive level of care and is often provided by the state psychiatric hospital system. This chapter describes each level and how they may be adapted successfully to function in correctional settings to meet the needs of individuals with mental illness.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Ringer

This paper reports on methodological experiences from an ethnographic study in psychiatric institutions in Denmark. Drawing on a poststructural framework and newer discussions within qualitative research that view methodological problems as sources of data, the paper analyzes how the challenges encountered in the fieldwork were indicative of discursive norms within the mental health services. It is argued that the multiple ways the researcher was positioned by participants revealed that the categories “patient” and “staff” were produced as polarized binaries with little leverage for negotiating positions in between. At the same time, it is shown that the patients find ways to resist the objectifying practices of the researcher as well as of the mental health services. The conclusions are discussed against recent attempts within the mental health services to promote a more patient-centered approach and involve patients in the treatment.


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