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Beatrice Edner, APA
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Behavioral Health Groups Publish “Learning from Each Other: Success Stories and Ideas for Reducing Restraint/Seclusion in Behavioral Health”
Resource Guide Provides Practical Help in
Creating a Culture of Safety, Respect, and Dignity(Washington, DC, January 28, 2003)….In an effort to capture the good ideas that are in use throughout the country to lessen the need for restraint and seclusion with psychiatric patients, several national associations have teamed up to publish Learning from Each Other: Success Stories and Ideas for Reducing Restraint/Seclusion in Behavioral Health. This 42-page publication was created by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), and the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) with support from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services (SPSAS).
The document was developed with extensive input from behavioral healthcare providers throughout the country – front-line staff members, clinical leaders, behavioral health administrators, and system executives who have been working with patients and families to reduce the use of restraint/seclusion and to improve care within their facilities. It was then reviewed and edited by multi-disciplinary experts.
The publication is intended to be a compendium of strategies that direct care providers and administrators may want to consider as they continuously evaluate and update their facilities’ comprehensive policies and practices. The document may also help families and consumers understand the thought processes of clinicians as they work to develop an organizational culture that maximizes patient dignity and safety. The publication demonstrates the value of an ongoing dialogue with consumers and families as an integral part of healthcare providers’ practice and as a critical part of the development of sound policy related to the use of restraint and seclusion.
To share the best thinking from the field, the sponsoring associations are making the complete text widely available at no charge on their web sites (http://www.naphs.org, http://www.psych.org, http://www.apna.org, and http://www.aha.org). The web sites also include suggestions to help organizations make use of the material in staff training and education.
“Media, accrediting, regulatory, and legislative bodies have focused national attention on the use of restraint and seclusion in behavioral health organizations,” said APA Charles Riordan, M.D., Chair, APA Committee on Standards and Survey Procedures. “These groups have consistently challenged the professional community to provide leadership in determining ways to minimize circumstances that give rise to restraint or seclusion use and to maximize safety when restraint and seclusion are used. The purpose of this project is to identify a body of high-quality clinical and operational information related to restraint and seclusion that can be recommended to the field.”
“The document confirms what we know: patient-centered care is the heart and soul of an effective organization,” said APNA Executive Director Jane White RN, CS, DNSc. “This document is full of ideas for creative approaches that both clinical and administrative staff members can take today to maintain a culture of safety that will lead to improved patient satisfaction and improved quality of care.”
“By providing our members with the tools to think through the entire process of maintaining a culture of safety, we hope to educate system leaders and facility staff members about the value of early, coordinated intervention with this most important – and vulnerable – population as well as the need for adequate resources to deliver what we know works,” said NAPHS Executive Director Mark Covall.
“Patients are the priority for America's hospitals,” said Bari Johnson, Director of the AHA Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services. “This document is one more tool to help physicians, nurses, and the entire hospital team deliver high-quality care. We're all committed to working together with consumers, families, clinicians, regulatory and accrediting agencies, Congress, and others to continuously improve patient care and to maintain a culture of safety.”
About the Content
Learning from Each Other: Success Stories and Ideas for Reducing Restraint/Seclusion in Behavioral Health provides information on current knowledge and thinking about care for youth and adults with psychiatric, emotional, and behavioral problems. The document is based on literature reviews, extensive structured interviews with members of the sponsoring organizations, and ideas solicited from the behavioral health field. The document gives ideas on leadership, staff education, assessment, treatment planning, documentation, milieu management, and debriefing. It also includes a list of helpful resources and publications. In addition, an appendix of sample forms, assessment tools, and checklists is posted along with the document on the associations’ web sites.About the Associations
The National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) advocates for behavioral health and represents provider systems that are committed to the delivery of responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders. Its members are behavioral healthcare provider organizations, including more than 300 specialty hospitals, general hospital psychiatric and addiction treatment units and behavioral healthcare divisions, residential treatment centers, partial hospital services, behavioral group practices, youth services organizations, and other providers of care.The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is a national medical specialty society, founded in 1844, whose 38,000 physician members specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses including substance use disorders.
The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) is a professional organization representing the specialty practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing. It has more than 4,000 members and is the largest national association of psychiatric nurses.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Close to 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 37,000 individual members come together to form the AHA. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. The AHA Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services (SPSAS) provides perspective on behavioral health issues.
For More Information
To download the document free of charge, visit the web sites of the APA, APNA, NAPHS, or AHA.
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