Health and Clinical Psychology Research Group Seminar
Please come and join us celebrate Tanya
Hollier’s DPsych completion.
When: Monday, 2nd March 12-1pm
Where: Keats Reading Room, Psychology
Building, Callaghan (Video link to Ourimbah Science Meeting Rooms)
What: Tanya Hollier’s Doctor of Psychology
Completion Seminar
The impact of therapeutic engagement on mental
health outcomes in a short stay mental health unit.
Objective: To investigate the
contribution of recovery-focused engagement and interventions in a 6 week stay
non-acute inpatient unit for people with serious mental illness (SMI). More
specifically, to investigate patterns of change for measures of clinical and
personal recovery, and observe whether patterns of change are sustained at 6
month follow-up. A subsequent evaluation was conducted to investigate the
association between change indices of therapeutic engagement, mental health
outcomes and other key mental health measures. Methods: Twenty-seven people with SMI completed three self-report
measures, one collaborative recovery measure and five clinician rated measures
2-3 days post-admission. Measures were repeated at discharge, 3 and 6-month follow-up.
Twenty-three and 20 people respectively completed measures at the final two
follow-up points. Results: Regression
analysis found significant linear improvements in therapeutic engagement, symptomatology,
functionality, self-determination and collaboratively determined recovery. A
subcomponent of the recovery measure, social connectedness, also demonstrated
linear improvement across follow-up periods with a large magnitude of change
recorded. Therapeutic engagement and the initial change for the MHRS total
score also showed conventionally large effect sizes (greater than 1). An
association between therapeutic engagement and mental health outcomes; and
mental health outcomes and functioning were also found. Conclusions: Although the study design incorporated limitations,
the findings suggest that higher levels of wellness, self-determination and
connectedness are achievable in a recovery-focused inpatient setting. The study
also showed that these improvements were sustained at 6 month follow-up. However,
given the limitations of this study, further work is required to explore the
factors that overcome stigma and develop and sustain individual levels of hope in
recovery.
