Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-11T15:23:57.316Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Modernized architecture may reduce coercion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

A. Harpøth ,
H. Kennedy  and
L. Sørensen
A. Harpøth*
Affiliation:
Department Of Forensic Psychiatry, AUH, psykiatrien, Aarhus N, Denmark
H. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Department Of Forensic Psychiatry, AUH, psykiatrien, Aarhus N, Denmark Department Of Psychiatry, Trinity College- Dublin University, Dublin, Ireland National Forensic Mental Health Service, Central Mental Hospital Dundrum, Dundrum, Ireland
L. Sørensen
Affiliation:
Department Of Forensic Psychiatry, AUH, psykiatrien, Aarhus N, Denmark Department Of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University- Health, Aarhus N, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
Introduction

Prevention and treatment of aggression in psychiatric hospitals is achieved through appropriate medical treatment, professional skills, and optimized physical environment and architecture. Coercive measures are used as a last resort. In 2018 Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry moved from 19th-century asylum buildings to a newly built modern psychiatric hospital. Advances within psychiatric care have rendered the old psychiatric asylum hospitals inadequate for modern treatment of mental disorders.

Objectives

To examine if relocating from a psychiatric hospital, dating from 19th century to a new, modern psychiatric hospital decreased the use of coercive measures.

Methods

This is a retrospective longitudinal study, with a follow-up from 2017 to 2019. We use two designs; 1) a pre-post analysis of the use of coercive measures at Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry before and after the relocation and 2) a case-control analysis of Aarhus University Hospital Psychiatry and the other psychiatric hospitals in the Central Region. Data will be analyzed in STATA using an interrupted time-series analysis or similar method. Additionally case-mix and sensitivity analysis will be performed.

Results

Preliminary results show a 45% decrease in the total number of coercive measures and a 52% decrease in the use of mechanical restraint. The reduction that may reasonably be attributed to the relocation is still to be determined and will be presented at the congress.

Conclusions

The study may illuminate how future development and planning of psychiatric facilities might improve psychiatric treatment and increase the understanding of how structural changes might contribute the prevention of the use of coercive measures.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

modernisationArchitectureStructural milieucoercion
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S127 - S128
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.