Rédaction d’un guide pratique d’évaluation des risques de violence et des conduites à adopter destiné aux professionnels de santé

Abstract

Mental health professionals often report being exposed to increasing violence in psychiatric facilities. The decline in training level increases the risk of events of violence and creates a feeling of insecurity, both leading to a vicious circle of violence. Based on this statement, the Local Observatory of Violence of the Sainte Anne Hospital has developed a Practical Guide for professionals. This tool is easy to handle by any mental health professional, it requires no specific training and it is well suited for daily mental care. First the guide states the distinction between aggressiveness, violence and acting out, then it lists risks factors of violence in psychiatric institutions and the last part reminds attitudes which must be adopted by professionals in situations of violence. These advices (identify clinical situations and risky configurations, adopt with the patient a calm but firm attitude, organize coordinate actions, manage people around as family or other patients…) are precisely described and shown in a clinical case. We aim to widely distribute this tool, especially to our less experienced colleagues.