Living with the opposite sex: The views of long‐stay psychiatric patients

Abstract

Assumptions tend to be made about the value of long-stay psychiatric patients living on mixed-sex wards. In this study the views of 71 patients living on single-sex continuing care wards were elicited using a six-item structured interview. The data were analysed by quantitative and qualitative methods. The results show that the majority of patients preferred single-sex living. The benefits and problems of surveys with this population are discussed as well as the implications for decisions about the structure and quality of care.