Finland in Boston? Applying Open Dialogue Ideals on a Psychotic Disorders Inpatient Teaching Unit

Abstract

This column argues for the importance of patient-centered approaches in psychiatry and describes the development and pilot implementation, inspired by the Finnish Open Dialogue model, of a program designed to increase the "patient-centeredness" of an inpatient psychotic disorders unit at McLean Hospital. Preliminary evidence shows that an inpatient psychiatry unit can implement patient-centered changes that are acceptable to staff and patients without additional cost or time.