Search results
1 – 10 of 313Elizabeth Bayo-Idowu, Sarrah Fatima, Kristina Brenisin, Aile Trumm, Paul Wallang and Kieran Breen
Inequalities can have a cumulative effect that leads to the presentation and subsequent progression of mental health difficulties. The detrimental effects can be compounded in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Inequalities can have a cumulative effect that leads to the presentation and subsequent progression of mental health difficulties. The detrimental effects can be compounded in the healthcare environment if staff lack an awareness of patients’' inequalities, and therefore, educating staff is of particular importance. The development of awareness training requires a deep understanding of staff perceptions of patient inequalities in a secure mental health care setting and the impact that this can have on mental illness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was carried out using a qualitative design, where staff were asked to complete a 22-question survey from which the output is analysed using thematic analysis. In total, 100 patient-facing staff members working in a secure mental health facility completed the survey.
Findings
The results highlight that staff employed in a secure mental health care setting have an understanding of patient inequalities and how these can impact on patients in both the short and longer terms. The results highlighted the importance of awareness by staff and how an increase can have a significant benefit on the quality of the care provided within secure mental health facilities.
Originality/value
There is an increasing awareness of the impact of inequalities on mental health and how this can influence a patient’s journey. This study involving staff employed in a secure care mental health facility highlights the role of staff awareness of inequalities and also underlines the importance of understanding the key role of staff awareness in mental ill health.
Details
Keywords
Louise G. Braham, Jonathan F. Heasley and Sam Akiens
Night confinement (NC) has been proposed as an appropriate and safe way to make cost improvements in a high secure NHS hospital. Given potential controversy, evaluating the impact…
Abstract
Purpose
Night confinement (NC) has been proposed as an appropriate and safe way to make cost improvements in a high secure NHS hospital. Given potential controversy, evaluating the impact of this change is vital. This paper aims to focus on the issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a mixed methods design to assess the impact of a three month night confinement pilot on four high secure admission wards. In total, 158 staff and 42 patients were approached to complete questionnaires and interview prior to and following the pilot. Questionnaires were analysed using T tests, ANOVA and Mann Whitney‐U to asses perceived changes in ward climate, working environment and quality of life. Thematic and saliency analysis was used to explore themes arising from semi structured interviews. Hospital data were collected to identify behavioural changes.
Findings
The study found that NC had no adverse effects and incidents of self harm, other incidents and seclusion hours dropped by a third during this period. This was contrary to staff expectations.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations include: a large number of researchers involved; average response rate and a disproportionate number of patients on Tilt restrictions on the pilot wards. Further evaluation is necessary if NC is to be adopted more widely.
Practical implications
This evaluation suggests that NC can contribute to providing an efficient and effective secure mental health service.
Originality/value
This study provides a unique opportunity to assess the impact of NC on patients and is of value to other secure units seeking effective cost improvements.
Details
Keywords
Stephan Tobler and Harald Stummer
A common way to handle quality problems and increasing costs of modern health care systems is more transparency through public reporting. Thereby, patient satisfaction is seen as…
Abstract
Purpose
A common way to handle quality problems and increasing costs of modern health care systems is more transparency through public reporting. Thereby, patient satisfaction is seen as one main reported outcome. Previous studies proposed several associated factors. Only a few of them included organizational determinants with potential to inform the health care provider's management. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of organizational contingency factors on patient satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
As a case, Switzerland's inpatient rehabilitation sector was used. Therein, a cross-sectional study of public released secondary data with an exploratory multiple linear regression (MLR) modeling approach was conducted.
Findings
Five significant influencing factors on patient satisfaction were found. They declared 42.2% of the variance in satisfaction on provider level. The organizations' supplementary insured patients, staff payment, outpatients, extracantonal patients and permanent resident population revealed significant correlations with patient satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Drawing on publicly available cross-sectional data, statistically no causality can be proved. However, integration of routine data and organization theory can be useful for further studies.
Practical implications
Regarding inpatient satisfaction, improvement levers for providers' managers are as follow: first, service provision should be customized to patients' needs, expectations and context; second, employees' salary should be adequate to prevent dissatisfaction; third, the main business should be prioritized to avoid frittering.
Originality/value
Former studies regarding public reporting are often atheoretical and rarely used organizational variables as determinants for relevant outcomes. Therefore, uniformed data are useful.
Details
Keywords
Paula Chatterjee and Maria Grazia Turri
Service users’ voice is at the forefront of movements within psychiatry that look to create more humanising care. Although genuine co-production of knowledge is limited by the…
Abstract
Purpose
Service users’ voice is at the forefront of movements within psychiatry that look to create more humanising care. Although genuine co-production of knowledge is limited by the power differential intrinsically functional to the health care setting, the arts have the potential to create collaborative environments and equalise relationships. The purpose of this case study is to describe and discuss the design and pilot evaluation of creative writing workshops in a forensic mental health ward as an innovative method for humanising care.
Design/methodology/approach
A creative writing intervention focussing on everyday experiences was implemented in a forensic mental health ward and involved four residents and four mental health professionals working together. Interviews were conducted with the four mental health professionals as part of a service evaluation. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Two themes emerged from the analysis of interviews with mental health professionals: “a new way of learning about each other” and “imagining beyond the staff-resident relationship”. The authors discuss the intervention’s benefits in terms of its potential to foster mutuality and empathy beyond the illness narrative.
Practical implications
Creative writing can be used to engage patients and mental health professionals to jointly share everyday experiences and identities beyond illness.
Originality/value
The creative writing workshops present an innovative approach concerning the use of creative arts for humanising care through mutuality.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to trace the relationship between the evidence-based design (EBD) process and decision-making during the architectural design process, the barriers to informing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to trace the relationship between the evidence-based design (EBD) process and decision-making during the architectural design process, the barriers to informing health-care architects and possible methods to overcome these barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
This study aims to explore the barriers to the EBD process during the design process by reviewing the relevant literature and future steps to overcome these barriers and support design decisions.
Findings
The study shows that EBD is a relevant, useful tool for providing evidence that positively affects design decisions. This study divides EBD barriers into simple barriers and complex barriers, depending on the nature of the barrier. Additionally, methods to overcome these barriers are discussed to ensure the best use of EBD findings with a significant impact on health-care design decisions, as they are core elements in informing architects, especially when combined with the traditional design process. This study investigates how likely it is for the EBD to contribute optimally to design decisions depending on architects’ skills and cooperation with researchers.
Originality/value
This study can apprize health-care architects of the need to consider the role of EBD in improving the quality of design decisions, and the importance of combining EBD with the traditional design process to implement optimal design decisions.
Details
Keywords
Mosad Zineldin, Hatice Camgöz‐Akdağ and Valiantsina Vasicheva
This paper aims to examine the major factors affecting cumulative summation, to empirically examine the major factors affecting satisfaction and to address the question whether…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the major factors affecting cumulative summation, to empirically examine the major factors affecting satisfaction and to address the question whether patients in Kazakhstan evaluate healthcare similarly or differently from patients in Egypt and Jordan.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire, adapted from previous research, was distributed to Kazakhstan inpatients. The questionnaire contained 39 attributes about five newly‐developed quality dimensions (5Qs), which were identified to be the most relevant attributes for hospitals. The questionnaire was translated into Russian to increase the response rate and improve data quality. Almost 200 usable questionnaires were returned. Frequency distribution, factor analysis and reliability checks were used to analyze the data.
Findings
The three biggest concerns for Kazakhstan patients are: infrastructure; atmosphere; and interaction. Hospital staff's concern for patients' needs, parking facilities for visitors, waiting time and food temperature were all common specific attributes, which were perceived as concerns. These were shortcomings in all three countries. Improving health service quality by applying total relationship management and the 5Qs model together with a customer‐orientation strategy is recommended.
Practical implications
Results can be used by hospital staff to reengineer and redesign creatively their quality management processes and help move towards more effective healthcare quality strategies.
Social implications
Patients in three countries have similar concerns and quality perceptions.
Originality/value
The paper describes a new instrument and method. The study assures relevance, validity and reliability, while being explicitly change‐oriented. The authors argue that patient satisfaction is a cumulative construct, summing satisfaction as five different qualities (5Qs): object; processes; infrastructure; interaction and atmosphere.
Details
Keywords
Augustine Adomah-Afari, Doris Doris Darkoa Mantey and Kwasi Awuah-Werekoh
The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that influence patients’ long-term relationship with healthcare providers in healthcare delivery at hospitals.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors that influence patients’ long-term relationship with healthcare providers in healthcare delivery at hospitals.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered using 170 patients in a cross-sectional survey with quantitative research methods at a public regional hospital. Results were obtained using descriptive analysis and regression analysis.
Findings
Generally, the study found that the health-related factors (the reception of staff, providers’ attitude, waiting time, competence and expertise and the hospital environment) that influence patients’ long-term relationship with the healthcare providers/hospital were statistically significant (p < 0.001). The findings showed that overall 90.0 per cent of the patients were very satisfied with the overall healthcare services at the hospital.
Research limitations/implications
Limited sample size, lack of examination of healthcare providers’ perspectives and non-application of qualitative methods make it difficult to give a true picture of how these can enhance patients’ intent to keep a long-term relationship with the healthcare providers/hospital.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that health policymakers and practitioners need to enhance measures that will make patients satisfied leading to their long-term commitment and cordial relationship with the healthcare providers/hospital.
Social implications
The study demonstrated how health-related factors will be associated with the patients’ agreement/intent to keep a long-term relationship with their service providers at hospitals. Thus, the overall hypothesis was true that there is a relationship between patients’ satisfaction with the healthcare experienced and their long-term relationship with healthcare providers/hospital.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies conducted on the topic in the context of Ghana’s health sector. It recommends that there should be a good interpersonal relationship between healthcare providers and patients, as patients’ satisfaction is not based on only receiving treatment at the health facility.
Details
Keywords
Ernest Gralton, Victor Udu and Shan Ranasinghe
There has been a significant expansion of secure psychiatric service provision in the UK, but little discussion about the most appropriate principles on which to base these…
Abstract
There has been a significant expansion of secure psychiatric service provision in the UK, but little discussion about the most appropriate principles on which to base these services. There is longstanding tension between security and treatment that can be difficult to resolve. Solution‐focused ideas may provide a bridge between these two issues, by improving multi‐disciplinary working and providing an appropriate relationship style that optimises the delivery of care to forensic patients.
Catherine Pritchard and Ann McNeill
The study evaluated the impact on staff and patient advocates of the implementation of a smoke‐free policy covering buildings and grounds within a mental health trust. Findings…
Abstract
The study evaluated the impact on staff and patient advocates of the implementation of a smoke‐free policy covering buildings and grounds within a mental health trust. Findings show that early consultation is central to the ownership of smoke‐free policies. The degree of success of the implementation of the policy was variable and depended on the availability of tobacco and the type of mental health unit, but the smoke‐free policy provided an opportunity to reduce smoking and hence health inequalities for people with mental health problems.
Details
Keywords
Much of the management effort in the National Health Service (NHS) over the last few years has been directed towards increasing the responsiveness of the service to the consumer…
Abstract
Much of the management effort in the National Health Service (NHS) over the last few years has been directed towards increasing the responsiveness of the service to the consumer. The aims set out in the 1989 White Paper, Working for Patients, are explored, concentrating on the cultural and structural changes within the NHS that, in the area of customer orientation and service, are necessary for success in the new market economy. The involvement of the consumer in all aspects of the delivery of health care is stressed.
Details