#TuesdayTrainee Publication: How safe are staff supported community outings for forensic patients?

Latest publication from our team.??

One of our trainees, Dr. Christian Farrell , recently led a paper published in?Frontiers in Psychiatry. The study involved investigating all Staff Supported Community Outings (SSCOs) that occurred at the BC Forensic Psychiatric Hospital over the course of one year.???

?Big take away: Over a one-year period, there were 463 SSCOs, involving 1144 patients and one ‘adverse event’. The?event involved a single patient who resumed their treatment without any issues. There were no instances of suicide, self-harm, crime/(re-)offending, violence, or substance use during the outings or as a result of the SSCOs.??

Furthermore additional?evidence suggested patients were building skills that could translate to community re-integration. This suggests SSCOs are a useful aspect of treatment and recovery serving to support forensic psychiatric patients to build life skills for a successful re-integration while maintaining?public safety.??

Next steps: Dr. Farrell will be presenting the study at the Canadian Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (CAPL) in Vancouver next week (April 14-17, 2024) and at the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services (IAFMHS) Conference in June 2024.???

?Hope to see you there!?

To read his paper, click HERE.

Farrell, C., Petersen, K. L., Hanzouli, P., & Nicholls, T. L. (2024). Staff supported community outings among forensic mental health patients: patient characteristics, rehabilitative goals, and (the absence of) adverse outcomes. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15(1382676). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1382676

Posted by H. Tsui on behalf of TN.