Impact of the 'Reserved Therapeutic Space' Nursing Intervention: an Intervention Study in Acute Mental Health Units

Summary

Aims:

To evaluate the effectiveness of the "Reserved Therapeutic Space" intervention for improving the nurse-patient therapeutic relationship in acute mental health units in Spain, as well as its impact in terms of quality of care and patients' perceptions of coercion.

Design:

Multicenter intervention study with control group.

Methods:

The study will be carried out in 12 mental health units in Spain. Given the conditions of evaluation in real clinical practice, paired randomization will be performed to assign centers to intervention and control groups. The "Reserved Therapeutic Space" intervention to be tested has been co-designed and validated by both nurses and patients. The quality of the therapeutic relationship, the care received, and perceived coercion among patients will be assessed at baseline and at discharge using instruments validated in our context. An estimated 131 patients per group are expected to participate. Funding was granted in July 2021 by the Institute of Health Carlos III (PI21/00605, Ministry of Science and Innovation) and in October 2021 by the College of Nurses of Barcelona (PR-487/2021). The proposal was approved by all the Research Ethics Committees of participating centers.

Discussion:

This study is expected to demonstrate the effectiveness of a specific nursing intervention on patient health outcomes including the level of the therapeutic relationship, the quality of care, the level of coercion and other specific indicators for acute mental health units.

Impact:

This project will lead to changes in clinical practice, transforming the current models of organization and care management in mental health hospitalization units, promoting the quality of the therapeutic relationship and, ultimately, the quality of person-centered care.

Conditions

• Nurse-Patient Relations
• Psychiatric Hospitalization

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Reserved Therapeutic Space

The main objective of the 'Reserved Therapeutic Space' intervention is to enhance the therapeutic bond of trust, to enable the agreement of objectives and interventions in a shared manner in relation to their recovery process in the unit. The intervention is carried out through individual meetings between the nurse and the patient in a comfortable and intimate space, where there are no interruptions and which is also chosen by the person who is hospitalized. The content of the spaces must be constructed individually according to the patients' concerns at each moment of the process.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Campus docent Sant Joan de Déu-Universitat de Barcelona

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital Universitario Fundación Alcorcón

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital Regional de Malaga

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital Gil Casares de Santiago de Compostela

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Hospital Universitario Infanta Leonor

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital Virgen de los Lirios de Alcoi

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital de Galdakao

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital de Mataró

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital del Mar

  collaborator OTHER

• Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital Universitario San Juan de Alicante

  collaborator OTHER

• Instituto de Salud Carlos III

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Colegio Oficial de Enfermeras y Enfermeros de Barcelona

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valencia

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Barcelona

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-04-01

Primary Completion

2023-11-01

Completion

2023-11-01

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations