Relatives' views on involuntary hospital admission in 8 EUNOMIA sites

Objectives

This study aimed to: a) describe the opinions of relatives of mentally ill patients about treatments and procedures adopted during a psychiatric admission; b) explore differences in the opinions among relatives living in 8 different European countries.

Methods

Data have been collected on a sample of relatives of patients involuntarily hospitalized in 8 European countries (Germany, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden) from the EUNOMIA network. Relatives' opinions on treatments and procedures received by their mentally ill relatives during the reference hospitalization's period have been explored by ad-hoc schedules.

Results

Relatives were overall satisfied with treatment provided to patients during the current hospitalization. Significant differences have been detected among the centers as concerns relatives' perceived pressure at patients' admission, satisfaction with treatments provided to hospitalized patients, and opinions about the usefulness of treatments and procedures adopted in emergency situations. In particular, Bulgarian relatives reported the highest levels of pressure at patients' admission, and Italian relatives largely disagreed with the possibility to admit psychiatric patients in asylums (as forbidden in Italy since 1978).

Conclusion

The differences in the relatives' opinions found in this study are likely to be influenced by cultural factors and national mental health policies. These differences are likely to influence mental health care practices in European countries, and should be taken into account in order to develop common European guidelines for psychiatric treatments.