"I Want to Go Home, but I Need to Stay": The Transition to become Ready for Discharge from Acute Psychiatric Wards, as Narrated by Persons Who Experienced Acute Psychotic Illness

Karina Sebergsen,Anne-Grethe Talseth,Astrid Norberg

doi:10.15344/2394-4978/2016/179

Abstract

Background: Discharge planning for persons with psychotic illness who are admitted to acute psychiatric wards is critical for decreasing the well-known risk of new phases of psychosis and early rea ...

Highlights

In most Western countries, persons who experience acute psychotic illness and whose acute care needs are not sufficiently met by community mental health care services, are offered short-term mental health care in acute psychiatric wards [1] to provide safety and security and decrease their psychotic symptoms and enhance their health [2]
The results describe the participants experienced three phases of transition to become ready for discharge after their acute psychosis had decreased: 1)Being affected by wounds following acute psychotic illness, 2) Being in need for strength to feel better before discharge, and 3)Being ready for discharge
The aim of our study is to explore, describe, and understand how persons experience becoming ready for discharge from acute psychiatric wards based on the narratives of persons who recently suffered from acute psychotic illness

Summary

Introduction

In most Western countries, persons who experience acute psychotic illness and whose acute care needs are not sufficiently met by community mental health care services, are offered short-term mental health care in acute psychiatric wards [1] to provide safety and security and decrease their psychotic symptoms and enhance their health [2]. In the early period after psychosis, persons’ vulnerability to the risk of experiencing new phases of psychosis is heightened [4]. To reduce this risk, clinical guidelines recommend community mental health care adjusted to each person’s care needs following discharge [3,5]. Clinical guidelines recommend community mental health care adjusted to each person’s care needs following discharge [3,5] From this perspective, the planning of the person’s discharge from the acute psychiatric ward and his/her further mental health care in the community acknowledges and mirrors in national guidelines that recommend personal mental health care plans [6,7]. A person’s discharge from an acute psychiatric ward to home is viewed as a transition [8, 9], and the discharge plan is an important component of the transition between the different care settings [10]

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