People who need care in a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) are often highly stigmatised and referred to using negative, dehumanising language, for example being described as ‘difficult’ or ‘problematic’ patients. They have also been described as ‘permanently disturbed’, which shows a lack of respect, value and hope for their recovery.
This article reports on a service development project that aimed to challenge the traditional paradigm of care provided in a PICU in North Wales. The project used the ‘TODAY’ (time, ownership, diagnostics, actions, you) approach as a model for implementing organisational change, which was modified to a more inclusive ‘Today We Talked’ approach. It aimed to involve PICU service users in decision-making about aspects of their care, and to ensure that this care was individualised. Outcomes of the project included reduced use of restrictive physical interventions, reduced stigma, increased opportunities for engagement, improvements in the use of space, increased trust and higher levels of service user satisfaction.
Mental Health Practice. 24, 1, 14-20. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2020.e1503
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and has been checked for plagiarism using automated software
Conflict of interestNone declared
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