Practice Management

Restraints, Confinement Still Common For Many Psychiatric Patients

Nearly 1 in 4 psychiatric patients in Ontario, Canada were subjected to physical restraints, isolation or given acute control meds while in hospital.

Providers of mental-health services still rely on intervention techniques such as physical restraint and confinement to control some psychiatric hospital patients, a practice which can cause harm to both patients and care facilities, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.

The study, which appears in a special mental health issue of Healthcare Management Forum, found that almost one in four psychiatric patients in Ontario hospitals are restrained using control interventions, such as chairs that prevent rising, wrist restraints, seclusion rooms or acute control medications.

READ FULL ARTICLE Curated publisher From EurekAlert