Implementation of open dialogue in Germany: Efforts, challenges, and obstacles.

Purpose: The Open Dialogue (OD) approach has been implemented in different countries worldwide. OD not only depends on therapeutic principles but also requires a distinct set of structural changes that may impede its full implementation. In Germany, OD is currently practiced in different mental health care settings across the country. Yet, full implementation of OD principles is limited due to the extreme structural and financial fragmentation of the German mental health care system. With this as a background, the aim of this study was to investigate the efforts, challenges and obstacles of OD implementation in Germany. Methods: This article presents the German results from the international HOPEnDIALOGUE survey, supplemented with expert interview data. Thirty eight teams currently providing OD took part in the survey. Sixteen expert interviews were carried out with stakeholders from various care settings. Survey data were analyzed descriptively and the qualitative data were evaluated using a thematic analysis approach. Results: While having to adapt to the fragmented German health care system, OD has been mainly implemented from outpatient service providers and stand-alone services. About half of the teams implemented OD under the conditions of cross-sectoral model contracts and, thus, are considerably limited when it comes to OD implementation. Altogether, OD is not implemented to its full extent in each of the institutions surveyed. Similarly, the expert interviews revealed various challenges that mainly relate to the realization of OD's structural principles, whereas the implementation of its therapeutic benefits remains less affected. However, these challenges have managed to lead to great commitment by single teams and a certain level of implementation of OD-related concepts. Conclusion: OD in Germany can currently only be fully implemented under the cross-sectoral care model contract system that is often temporary, thus significantly hindering its continuous development. Any evaluation of OD's effectiveness in Germany thus needs to take into account the fragmented nature of the country's health care system and control for the multiple barriers that impede implementation. Reforms of the German health care system are also urgently needed to create more favorable conditions for the implementation of OD.

Psychometric evaluation of the German version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC).

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals can be a source of stigma and discrimination for people with mental illness, and anti-stigma programs are needed for this target group. However, there is no validated German language scale to assess attitudes of healthcare professionals towards people with mental illness. This study had the aim to validate the German language version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC), a self-report measure of stigmatizing attitudes. METHODS: Staff (n = 392) on general psychiatric inpatient wards (excluding child, forensic and geriatric psychiatry) at five psychiatric hospitals in Switzerland (n = 3) and Germany (n = 2) participated in the study. The internal consistency of the OMS-HC was examined as well as its factor structure using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. To assess the scale's concurrent validity, we used the Social Distance Scale. RESULTS: Internal consistency for the OMS-HC total score was good (α = 0.74), acceptable for the subscales Attitudes (α = 0.62) and Social Distance (α = 0.69), and poor for the Disclosure subscale (α = 0.55). The original three-factor structure fit our data well. The OMS-HC total score and the Social Distance subscale score were significantly correlated with the Social Distance Scale, supporting concurrent validity. CONCLUSION: The German version of the OMS-HC demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties and can be recommended for future research and intervention evaluation.

[Do we Choose the Right Measures to Avoid Coercion? - A Survey of Service Users who Experienced Coercion About Potentially Helpful Milder Measures]. / Wählen wir die richtigen Mittel zur Zwangsvermeidung?

AIM: We investigated which milder measures service users perceive as helpful to prevent coercive measures and in which extent these measures are offered. METHODS: A sample of 155 former service users who experienced coercion was recruited and questioned via online or paper pencil survey. RESULTS: On average, participants reported to have received 4.7 from a total of 25 milder measures. The measures, which where most frequent rated as potentially helpful where "crisis talks", "considering needs" and "showing interest". The analysis showed a negative relation between the frequency of offered measures and the frequency these measures where rated as potentially helpful. 86 % of the participants reported low satisfaction with treatment overall. CONCLUSION: It seems, that in escalating situations service users do not receive the measures they perceive as helpful. In order to prevent the use of coercive measures staff members should focus on crisis talks and a need-orientated, empathic interaction.

Dialogue as a Response to the Psychiatrization of Society? Potentials of the Open Dialogue Approach.

In recent decades, the use of psychosocial and psychiatric care systems has increased worldwide. A recent article proposed the concept of psychiatrization as an explanatory framework, describing multiple processes responsible for the spread of psychiatric concepts and forms of treatment. This article aims to explore the potentials of the Open Dialogue (OD) approach for engaging in less psychiatrizing forms of psychosocial support. While OD may not be an all-encompassing solution to de-psychiatrization, this paper refers to previous research showing that OD has the potential to 1) limit the use of neuroleptics, 2), reduce the incidences of mental health problems and 3) decrease the use of psychiatric services. It substantiates these potentials to de-psychiatrize psychosocial support by exploring the OD's internal logic, its use of language, its processes of meaning-making, its notion of professionalism, its promotion of dialogue and how OD is set up structurally. The conclusion touches upon the dangers of co-optation, formalization and universalization of the OD approach and stresses the need for more societal, layperson competencies in dealing with psychosocial crises.

[Competencies and Role Experiences of Peer Support - A Participatory Research Report]. / Kompetenzen und Rollen(-erwartungen) von Genesungsbegleitern in der psychiatrischen Versorgung ­ Ein partizipativer Forschungsbericht.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the peer support providers' competencies and role experiences. METHODS: A multiple coding approach has been used to collaboratively analyze and discuss ethnographic material. RESULTS: Compared to other professionals, peer support provider engage with patients in a more open and less classificatory way. Their role is often unclear and defined by both more flexibility and dependencies. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to clearly define the competencies and roles of peer support providers and balance them with the expectations of the other professionals.

Knowledge on types of treatment pressure. A cross-sectional study among mental health professionals.

Treatment pressure restricts patients' voluntary and autonomous decisions. Yet interventions involving treatment pressure are widely used in mental health and psychosocial services. This cross-sectional study explored whether mental health professionals' knowledge on five types of treatment pressure (no coercion, persuasion or conviction, leverage, threat, and formal coercion) was associated with sociodemographic, professional and contextual factors. A more positive attitude towards interventions involving treatment pressure was associated with underrating the level of those interventions compared with a predefined default value. The treatment setting and professional group played a minor role in 'leverage' and 'formal coercion' types of treatment pressure, respectively.

Informal coercion as a neglected form of communication in psychiatric settings in Germany and Switzerland.

AIMS: Informal coercion is a frequently used form of communication among mental health professionals to influence treatment outcomes. This study investigates the recognition, attitude, and application of different forms of informal coercion by mental health professionals. METHODS: Mental health professionals of five psychiatric institutions in Germany and Switzerland (n = 424) took part in an online survey assessing the recognition of, attitudes towards, and application of different forms of informal coercion. RESULTS: Mental health professionals did not recognize the extent of informal coercion adequately; especially stronger forms were underestimated. Recognition and application of informal coercion was predicted by attitudes towards coercion. Furthermore, there were differences between profession of participants regarding the recognition and application of informal coercion. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to realize that the extent of applied informal coercion in therapeutic communication is often not recognized by practitioners, although it might interfere with a sound therapeutic relationship.

[Please do Something - no Matter what! A Nationwide Online Survey of Mental Health Service Users About the Use of Alternatives to Coercive Measures]. / Bitte macht (irgend)was! Eine bundesweite Online-Befragung Psychiatrieerfahrener zum Einsatz milderer Maßnahmen zur Vermeidung von Zwangsmaßnahmen.

Aim In recent years the legal basis in Germany for the use of coercive measures in psychiatry has changed. Now, coercive measures are permitted only as last resort after milder measures failed. However, there is no regulation of the type or amount of milder measures. In this study, we investigated which and how many milder measures were experienced by service users before coercion was used and which measures they value as potentially helpful to avoid it. Methods A sample of 83 service users was recruited. In an online survey the experience with 21 milder measures and their evaluation as helpful were assessed by self-report. Results On average, participants reported 5.4 experienced milder measures. The most frequent reason provided for why measures failed were structural factors, followed by staff behavior, and reasons caused by the participants themselves. The only milder measure rated by less than 50 % as potentially helpful in avoiding coercive measures was being persuaded to take medication.Conclusion Although many milder measures are perceived as potentially helpful, only few seem to be made use of in routine clinical practice. In order to prevent coercion staff members should apply a wider range of milder measures.

[Peer Support for Individuals with Mental Health Problems and their Relatives - Background, Concept and Baseline Data]. / Peer-Begleitung für Erfahrene schwerer und langfristiger psychischer Störungen und Angehörige - Hintergrund, Konzept und Baseline-Daten.

Severe mental illness comes along with cyclic hospital re-admission, heavy losses in quality of life and stigmatization. Therefore a refinement of intervention is still required, for patients themselves and their relatives. In mental health services there is an international trend toward recovery-orientated interventions, like peer support. In Germany this is the first trial to implement peer-support area-wide in a metropolis. This article describes the implementation of the network, the methodology of the research setting and the baseline data of the randomized controlled trial.