There is a striking, lack of empirical data regarding the prevalence, perceptions, and consequence of potentially traumatic or harmful events occurring within the psychiatric setting (Frueh et al., 2000). Empirical studies are needed to provide a better understanding of these important issues. Such data would be helpful in developing mental health policies, procedures, and clinical training programs to ensure that providers of mental health services meet what is perhaps their most important objective: to do no harm. Administrators and clinicians would do well to remember that all consumers of mental health services, especially those admitted/committed to psychiatric inpatient units, represent the most vulnerable people in our society. They are a group that has quite frequently been traumatized, and may have the most difficulty asserting their needs and understanding the reasons for psychiatric procedures. Viewed in this light, it seems incumbent upon mental health service providers to ?Make an extra effort to ensure that services delivered within psychiatric settings (i.e., sanctuary) are delivered in a manner that is most sensitive to the potentially adverse consequences of traumatic, frightening, or humiliating (i.e., harmful) experiences.
The research aim of this proposal is: To advance our understanding of the frequency perceptions, and consequences of potentially traumatic or harmful events occurring within the psychiatric setting ?by examining these factors among a sample of mental health consumers within a state-funded-mental health system. We propose to evaluate these issues among consumers served within the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH). Study participants will be 200 randomly selected adult male and female consumers recruited from two programs affiliated with the Charleston/Dorchester Community Mental Health Center. All participants will complete a short battery of self-report measures and will be the subject of a chart review; a subgroup of 40 will complete a short battery of clinical and thematic interviews. Measures will be designed to assess sanctuary trauma and harm, general trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, and psychiatric diagnoses. The obtained data will be analyzed via quantitative and qualitative methods.
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