What are the experiences of adult consumers in Victorian mental health services who have an advance statement and are admitted to an inpatient unit compulsorily?
Hello, I am an experienced consumer worker currently undertaking a PhD at University of Melbourne. I am interested in the experience of people who have written an advance statement and then have a compulsory inpatient admission.
I am looking for people who have this experience and would like to talk to me about it.
What is this research about?
This research is interested in the experiences that people have when they have an advance statement and then have a compulsory inpatient admission. I developed this study because advance statements are an important tool under the Mental Health Act to support people’s treatment preferences in mental health services. The project aims to answer the following questions:
1) What are the experiences of people in relation to using an advance statement during a compulsory inpatient admission?
2) What are the strategies that people can use to further support the use of their advance statements during an inpatient admission?
Who can be involved?
Anyone over the age of 18 who
- lives in Victoria,
- has written an advance statement
- had a compulsory inpatient admission after writing the advance statement
- the admission was in the last six months.
What will I be asked to do?
You will be asked to participate in a research interview with myself. This will be a semi-structured interview that will explore your experiences during the compulsory inpatient admission when you also had an advance statement. The interview will either held the phone or via video conferencing depending on your preferences. The interview will take between 45 mins to an hour and will be recorded and then transcribed. You will be given the opportunity to review this transcription once it is completed.
Before the interview, you will be sent some information and a consent form with a stamped return envelope. I will need to receive the consent form before the interview can take place.
At the end of the study you will be asked if you had someone who supported you during the admission that may also like to be involved in the study. If you do, I will give you information about the project to pass on to them.
I also would like to speak with clinical staff using stories created by people like you to gain further understanding of the importance of advance statements in supporting people. If you are interested in participating in writing these stories, please let me know after the interview.
You will receive a $50 shopping voucher to acknowledge your time and cover any costs associated with your participation in this research.
What will happen to information about me?
All data collected as part of the study will not be used in any way that will identify you. All data will be stored in a locked filing cabinet in the PhD student office in the University of Melbourne. Only the named researchers will have access to it. All data will be stored securely for a period of seven years after the last publication. At this time, all electronic data will be destroyed using secure-erasing software, and hard copy data will be shredded.
During the Covid-19 restrictions, all paperwork will be kept by Vrinda Edan in a personal locked filing cabinet.
What are the possible benefits?
Advance statements were included in the Mental Health Act Vic (2014) as an important way that people can have their treatment preferences known at a time that they are experiencing distress, however there is little known about the usefulness of them during a compulsory inpatient admission. By understanding what the experience of the use of advance statements during an admission is, it is hoped that more advocacy for their use and development can occur.
This project has been approved by University of Melbourne, Ethics ID: 1954152
If you would like to be involved in this study, please contact me on
Vrinda Edan
Tel: 0433054346
Email: edanv@student.unimelb.edu.au