Speaker
Dr Mary Lavelle is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Queen's University Belfast. She completed her PhD at Queen Mary, University of London in 2012. From here, she held Research Fellow positions in King’s College London, Imperial College London and City, University of London, developing a programme of research focusing on communication and patient safety in healthcare contexts. Dr Lavelle’s research focuses on how people engage in social interaction in the context of healthcare. She examines social exchanges in clinical populations where communication may be problematic (e.g. psychosis) and in healthcare teams where communication is critical to patient safety. This overarching aim of this research is to provide empirical evidence that can inform clinical training and practice and improve patient care.
Description
Mental health wards are under incredible pressure due to high bed occupancy rates and staff shortages. Service users are acutely unwell and often admitted involuntarily (40%). Staff manage aggression when it arises through communication, known as de-escalation. However, de-escalation training is not evidence based and practice varies greatly. The aim of this NIHR funded study is to identify the communication and teamwork strategies that characterise successful management of aggressive behaviour in acute adult inpatient mental health wards, avoiding the need to use potentially harmful restrictive practices such as restraint (held to prevent movement), seclusion (locked in isolation) and forced tranquilisation (involuntarily injected with psychotropic medication). This mixed methods study, employs staff body worn cameras, alongside ethnographic observations of routine practice to examine aggression management approaches across seven inpatient wards in London. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide evidence to inform future training and clinical practice. The study progress, challenges and preliminary findings will be discussed during this presentation