Encountering staff-directed aggression within mental health and substance abuse services: exploring conceptions of practice following education

摘要

BackgroundStaff-directed aggression represents a considerable concern in mental health and substance abuse services, and presents a substantial challenge to the quality and continuity of service provision for people with mental health and substance abuse problems. The practitioners themselves frequently request increased competence as a way to mediate the negative effects of staff-directed violence and aggression. The aim of this study is to explore how practitioners in municipal mental health and substance abuse services conceptualize practice in prevention and management of staff-directed violence. Furthermore, we seek to explore how these conceptions change following participation in two complementary and specially developed courses advancing respectively, qualified risk assessment and situational awareness and disempowerment-sensitive and de-escalation principles for practice.