Patients’ Experiences of Participation in High-Security, Forensic Psychiatric Care

Abstract

The role of patient participation in forensic psychiatric care is unclear, but has been emphasised as important in recent research. This study aims to describe patients’ lived experiences of participation in high-security, forensic psychiatric settings. Sixteen patient interviews were performed in this phenomenological study and analysed with a Reflective Lifeworld Research approach (RLR). Results show that participation must be understood in relation to its opposite construct, non-participation. Participation can thus be explained as situations where non-participation is less visible. Actions to develop the training of patient-staff interactions for forensic psychiatric staff to promote patient participation are called for.