Views on restrictive practices on young people in psychiatric wards

The use of restrictive practices to address behaviours that challenge in children and young people's psychiatric inpatient services is a contentious issue. A qualitative study using focus groups and interviews was conducted to elicit the views of health professionals, non-clinical staff, service users and relatives on the subject. Although restrictive practices were sometimes seen as necessary to manage certain situations - for instance, when staff felt there was a risk of a patient committing suicide - they were also considered to be potentially harmful to staff and patient wellbeing. The study outcomes reinforce the ideas that post-incident debriefing is beneficial, and that staff and families need to work together to establish what triggers the particular behaviours that challenge so they can be avoided in the first place.