The importance of relationships in mental health care: A qualitative study of service users' experiences of psychiatric hospital admission in the UK

Abstract

Relationships with an individual which comprised effective communication, cultural sensitivity, and the absence of coercion resulted in that person being attributed with a sense of trust. This resulted in the patient experiencing the hospital as a place of safety in terms of risk from other patients and staff. Barriers to positive relationships included ineffective and negative communication, a lack of trust, a lack of safety in terms of staff as ineffective in preventing violence, and as perpetrators themselves, and the use of coercion by staff. This unique perspective both acts as a source of triangulation with previous studies and highlights the importance of the therapeutic relationship in providing a safe and therapeutic milieu for the treatment of people with acute mental health problems.