ABSTRACT

Secure forensic hospitals aim to reverse adversity and promote personal safety and mental health well-being for those admitted. These hospitals are also well-placed to make the case for the importance of inclusion and reintegration after a period of enforced community exclusion (through detention under the Mental Health Act). Given the operational and procedural security required for the therapeutic regimes in these settings, only essential visitors are typically given access. This makes it challenging to promote awareness and understanding about patients with forensic and mental health histories. In this study, the impact of a one-day visit to a high-security forensic hospital by psychology students (n = 123), which included face-to-face contact with patients, was studied for its potential to reduce negative attitudes about this population. A comparison group of students who did not attend a visit were also recruited (n = 135). The impact of entering and learning about the hospital, and a conversational exchange with current residents was associated with a significant reduction in negative stereotypes and fear and an increase in compassion and motivation to help. The findings support the use of contact-based educational visits to change negative attitudes and responses towards patients with forensic and mental health histories.

摘要

安全的法医医院旨在扭转逆境，促进入院者的人身安全和心理健康。这些医院也可以很好地证明在一段时间的强制社区排斥（通过根据《心理健康法》进行拘留）后融入和重返社会的重要性。考虑到这些环境中治疗方案所需的操作和程序安全性，通常只允许必要的访客进入。这使得提高对法医和心理健康史患者的认识和了解变得具有挑战性。在这项研究中，研究了心理学专业学生（n = 123）对高度安全的法医医院进行一日访问的影响，其中包括与患者的面对面接触，以研究其可能减少对此的负面态度人口。还招募了一组未参加访问的学生（n = 135）。进入和了解医院的影响以及与当前居民的对话交流与负面刻板印象和恐惧的显着减少以及同情心和帮助的动机的增加有关。研究结果支持使用基于接触的教育访问来改变对法医和心理健康史患者的负面态度和反应。