Abstract

Patient oriented research (POR) is new to the healthcare research landscape in Canada and has not yet been applied to the forensic field. This review begins by introducing POR, the POR Level of Engagement Tool, and complimentary approaches used in research with forensic patients. Next, the potential key challenges, paradoxes, and benefits of applying POR to a forensic mental health setting are presented. Drawing on this understanding, a review of our team’s experiences applying the POR Level of Engagement Tool at the Regional Psychiatric Center, a Canadian forensic psychiatric facility, is presented as a case study. The research question supported by our patient advisors and addressed with patients and facility staff was: “What topics do you think we need to know more about to benefit patients at the Regional Psychiatric Center?” We conclude this review article with recommendations on how to meaningfully, and practically, involve forensic psychiatric patients diagnosed with mental disorders in POR when initiating a project. Forensic psychiatric patients can provide insightful knowledge based on their experiences of mental illness to improve the prison health care system and practices.

摘要

面向患者的研究 (POR) 在加拿大的医疗保健研究领域是新事物，尚未应用于法医领域。本综述首先介绍 POR、POR 参与度工具，以及在法医患者研究中使用的补充方法。接下来，介绍了将 POR 应用于法医心理健康环境的潜在关键挑战、悖论和好处。基于这种理解，我们的团队在加拿大法医精神病学机构区域精神病学中心应用 POR 参与度工具的经验作为案例研究进行了回顾。我们的患者顾问支持并与患者和设施工作人员一起解决的研究问题是：“您认为我们需要更多地了解哪些主题才能使区域精神病学中心的患者受益？” 我们总结了这篇评论文章，并提出了有关在启动项目时如何有意义和实际地让被诊断患有精神障碍的法医精神病患者参与 POR 的建议。法医精神病患者可以根据他们的精神疾病经历提供有见地的知识，以改善监狱医疗保健系统和做法。