Preventing compulsory admission to psychiatric inpatient care using psycho-education and monitoring: feasibility and outcomes after 12 months

The aim of this study was to evaluate an intervention programme for people with severe mental illness that targets the reduction in compulsory psychiatric admissions. In the current study, we examine the feasibility of retaining patients in this programme and compare outcomes over the first 12 months to those after treatment as usual (TAU). Study participants were recruited in four psychiatric hospitals in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Patients were eligible if they had at least one compulsory admission during the past 24 months. Participants were assigned at random to the intervention or to the TAU group. The intervention programme consists of individualised psycho-education focusing on behaviours prior to illness-related crisis, crisis cards and, after discharge from the psychiatric hospital, a 24-month preventive monitoring. In total, 238 (of 756 approached) inpatients were included in the trial. After 12 months, 80 (67.2 %) in the intervention group and 102 (85.7 %) in the TAU group were still participating in the trial. Of these, 22.5 % in the intervention group (35.3 % TAU) had been compulsorily readmitted to psychiatry; results suggest a significantly lower number of compulsory readmissions per patient (0.3 intervention; 0.7 TAU). Dropouts are characterised by younger age and unemployment. This interim analysis suggests beneficial effects of this intervention for targeted psychiatric patients

Emotional reactions to involuntary psychiatric hospitalization and stigma-related stress among people with mental illness

Compulsory admission to psychiatric inpatient treatment can be experienced as disempowering and stigmatizing by people with serious mental illness. However, quantitative studies of stigma-related emotional and cognitive reactions to involuntary hospitalization and their impact on people with mental illness are scarce. Among 186 individuals with serious mental illness and a history of recent involuntary hospitalization, shame and self-contempt as emotional reactions to involuntary hospitalization, the cognitive appraisal of stigma as a stressor, self-stigma, empowerment as well as quality of life and self-esteem were assessed by self-report. Psychiatric symptoms were rated by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. In multiple linear regressions, more self-stigma was predicted independently by higher levels of shame, self-contempt and stigma stress. A greater sense of empowerment was related to lower levels of stigma stress and self-contempt. These findings remained significant after controlling for psychiatric symptoms, diagnosis, age, gender and the number of lifetime involuntary hospitalizations. Increased self-stigma and reduced empowerment in turn predicted poorer quality of life and reduced self-esteem. The negative effect of emotional reactions and stigma stress on quality of life and self-esteem was largely mediated by increased self-stigma and reduced empowerment. Shame and self-contempt as reactions to involuntary hospitalization as well as stigma stress may lead to self-stigma, reduced empowerment and poor quality of life. Emotional and cognitive reactions to coercion may determine its impact more than the quantity of coercive experiences. Interventions to reduce the negative effects of compulsory admissions should address emotional reactions and stigma as a stressor

Patient-reported burden of intensified surveillance and surgery in high-risk individuals under pancreatic cancer surveillance

In high-risk individuals participating in a pancreatic cancer surveillance program, worrisome features warrant for intensified surveillance or, occasionally, surgery. Our objectives were to determine the patient-reported burden of intensified surveillance and/or surgery, and to assess post-operative quality of life and opinion of surgery. Participants in our pancreatic cancer surveillance program completed questionnaires including the Cancer Worry Scale (CWS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). For individuals who underwent intensified surveillance, questionnaires before, during, and ≥ 3 weeks after were analyzed. In addition, subjects who underwent intensified surveillance in the past 3 years or underwent surgery at any time, were invited for an interview, that included the Short-Form 12 (SF-12). A total of 31 high-risk individuals were studied. During the intensified surveillance period, median CWS scores were higher (14, IQR 7), as compared to before (12, IQR 9, P = 0.007) and after (11, IQR 7, P = 0.014), but eventually returned back to baseline (P = 0.823). Median HADS scores were low: 5 (IQR 6) for anxiety and 3 (IQR 5) for depression, and they were unaff

Factors associated with cancer worries in individuals participating in annual pancreatic cancer surveillance

It is important to adequately and timely identify individuals with cancer worries amongst participants in a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) surveillance program, because they could benefit from psychosocial support to decrease distress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess both psychosocial and clinical factors associated with cancer worries. High-risk individuals participating in PDAC-surveillance were invited to annually complete a cancer worry scale (CWS) questionnaire which was sent after counseling by the clinical geneticist (T0), after intake for participation in PDAC-surveillance (T1), and then annually after every MRI and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) (T2 and furth

Communicative and social consequences of interactions with voice assistants

The growing prevalence of artificial intelligence and digital media in children’s lives provides them with the opportunity to interact with novel non-human agents such as robots and voice assistants. Previous studies show that children eagerly adopt and interact with these technologies, but we have only limited evidence of children’s distinction between artificial intelligence and humans. In this study, the communication patterns and prosocial outcomes of interactions with voice assistants were investigated. Children between 5 and 6 years (N = 72) of age solved a treasure hunt in either a human or voice assistant condition. During the treasure hunt, the interaction partner supplied information either about their knowledge of or experience with the objects. Afterwards, children were administered a sharing task and a helping task. Results revealed that children provided voice assistants with less information than humans and that only the type of information given by a human interaction partner was related to children’s information selection. Sharing was influenced by an interaction between type of information and interaction partner, showing that the type of information shared influenced children’s decisions more when interacting with a human, but less when interacting with a voice assistant. Children in all conditions enjoyed the treasure hunt with the interaction partner. Overall, these results suggest that children do not impose the same expectations on voice assistants as they do on humans. Consequently, cooperation between humans and cooperation between humans and computers differ

Effects of the Type of Childcare on Toddlers’ Motor, Social, Cognitive, and Language Skills

Abstract. This study investigated the relationship between type of childcare and toddlers’ skills in four important developmental domains: motor, cognitive, social, and language. A total of 637 children aged 18 and 24 months were either cared for exclusively at home by their parents or relatives (home-care group) or attended a daycare center for a minimum of 2 days per week (center-care group). We tested the children’s skills using standard assessment tools and compared the skills of the two care groups. The results suggest that, for the sample tested, childcare type is not related to toddler’s cognitive, motor, social, and language skills

Preventing compulsory admission to psychiatric inpatient care: perceived coercion, empowerment, and self-reported mental health functioning after 12 months of preventive monitoring

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of a preventive monitoring program targeted to reduce compulsory rehospitalization and perceived coercion in patients with severe mental disorder. We analyze patient outcomes in terms of perceived coercion, empowerment, and self-reported mental health functioning at 12 months. METHODS: The program consists of individualized psychoeducation, crisis cards and, after discharge from the psychiatric hospital, a 24-month preventive monitoring. In total, 238 psychiatric inpatients who had had compulsory admission(s) during the past 24 months were included in the trial. T1-assessment 12 months after baseline was achieved for 182 patients. RESULTS: Study participants reported lower levels of perceived coercion, negative pressures, and process exclusion, a higher level of optimism, and a lesser degree of distress due to symptoms, interpersonal relations, and social role functioning (significant time effects). However, improvements were not confined to the intervention group, but seen also in the treatment-as-usual group (no significant group or interaction effects). Altered perceptions were linked to older age, shorter illness duration, female sex, non-psychotic disorder, and compulsory hospitalization not due to risk of harm to others. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that changes in the subjective perspective were fueled primarily by participation in this study rather than by having received the specific intervention. The study contributes to a better understanding of the interaction between "objective" measures (compulsory readmissions) and patients' perceptions and highlights the need for treatment approaches promoting empowerment in individuals with a history of involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations

Preventing compulsory admission to psychiatric inpatient care using psycho-education and monitoring: feasibility and outcomes after 12months

The aim of this study was to evaluate an intervention programme for people with severe mental illness that targets the reduction in compulsory psychiatric admissions. In the current study, we examine the feasibility of retaining patients in this programme and compare outcomes over the first 12months to those after treatment as usual (TAU). Study participants were recruited in four psychiatric hospitals in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. Patients were eligible if they had at least one compulsory admission during the past 24months. Participants were assigned at random to the intervention or to the TAU group. The intervention programme consists of individualised psycho-education focusing on behaviours prior to illness-related crisis, crisis cards and, after discharge from the psychiatric hospital, a 24-month preventive monitoring. In total, 238 (of 756 approached) inpatients were included in the trial. After 12months, 80 (67.2%) in the intervention group and 102 (85.7%) in the TAU group were still participating in the trial. Of these, 22.5% in the intervention group (35.3% TAU) had been compulsorily readmitted to psychiatry; results suggest a significantly lower number of compulsory readmissions per patient (0.3 intervention; 0.7 TAU). Dropouts are characterised by younger age and unemployment. This interim analysis suggests beneficial effects of this intervention for targeted psychiatric patients

Emotional reactions to involuntary psychiatric hospitalization and stigma-related stress among people with mental illness

Compulsory admission to psychiatric inpatient treatment can be experienced as disempowering and stigmatizing by people with serious mental illness. However, quantitative studies of stigma-related emotional and cognitive reactions to involuntary hospitalization and their impact on people with mental illness are scarce. Among 186 individuals with serious mental illness and a history of recent involuntary hospitalization, shame and self-contempt as emotional reactions to involuntary hospitalization, the cognitive appraisal of stigma as a stressor, self-stigma, empowerment as well as quality of life and self-esteem were assessed by self-report. Psychiatric symptoms were rated by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. In multiple linear regressions, more self-stigma was predicted independently by higher levels of shame, self-contempt and stigma stress. A greater sense of empowerment was related to lower levels of stigma stress and self-contempt. These findings remained significant after controlling for psychiatric symptoms, diagnosis, age, gender and the number of lifetime involuntary hospitalizations. Increased self-stigma and reduced empowerment in turn predicted poorer quality of life and reduced self-esteem. The negative effect of emotional reactions and stigma stress on quality of life and self-esteem was largely mediated by increased self-stigma and reduced empowerment. Shame and self-contempt as reactions to involuntary hospitalization as well as stigma stress may lead to self-stigma, reduced empowerment and poor quality of life. Emotional and cognitive reactions to coercion may determine its impact more than the quantity of coercive experiences. Interventions to reduce the negative effects of compulsory admissions should address emotional reactions and stigma as a stressor