Core activities new
Scope of practice | Target group | Aim of the centre | Why this initiative | Service provision and products
The aim of the Centre is to foster safe environments in Acute Mental Health Care settings and to promote excellence in the prediction, prevention and management of risk associated with such care environments.
The centre will be involved in primary and applied research locally, nationally and internationally so as to generate, test and apply knowledge in this field.
It will promote and foster practice development initiatives
It will be involved in dissemination activities to support practice
It will design, develop and foster educational initiatives both with student practitioners and as a structured contribution to Continuing Professional Development programmes with partner organizationsAt present the center’s core work is concentrated on fostering practice development and strengthening education curriculum development so as to promote;
A. ) Safe environments for service users and healthcare workers
B.) Optimum multidisciplinary risk management communication
C.) Evidenced based practice support in acute and intensive psychiatric care domains
In our view practice development activities in crisis management domains should include and be based upon;
A.) Systematic data-collection to inform practice
B.) Team reflection on identified patterns of near escalations and recovery
C.) Critical thinking on intervention decision making
D.) Reflection on the clinical implications of risk management research findings
E.) Process evaluation on paradigm shifts of teams in risk management strategies
1. Qualified healthcare workers in community and in-patient psychiatry facilities
2. Clinical researchers and Practice development practitioners
3. Students at healthcare faculties
Acute mental healthcare settings are areas of healthcare practice which are associated with inherent risk and are the cauldron for a range of crises situations. Forced containment, the acuity of psychotic symptoms, stigma among other features all contribute to an environment fraught with tension and the potential for violence and aggression. These settings have long been associated with high levels of aggression, assault and other forms of violence to staff and patients alike.
In that regard, the quality of the prediction, prevention and management strategies is particularly important. False negative or false positive judgments on risk of violence towards self or others can have severe consequences for patients and mental healthcare staff. Risk assessment and prediction is one of the most stressful elements of professional functioning in healthcare. Such challenging tasks can in some occasions contribute to personal burn-out and high turn-over of staff in acute psychiatric services or related healthcare settings. External support in practice development processes in these high risk environments can help teams to improve the level of clinical decision making and safety interventions and lead to better patient outcomes. From this perspective reflective practice, structured risk assessment, and the provision of evidenced based and research informed interventions can lead to safer practice.
1. Structured practice evaluations
2. Practice development support
3. Evidence informed risk prediction and management training