Commentary: seclusion and mechanical restraint of psychiatric patients in Israel - an update

Recently, Miodownik et al. reported in this journal the results of a study on seclusion and mechanical restraint of psychiatric patients in Israel (Isr J Health Policy Res 8:9, 2019). The study was a retrospective examination over a year of one inpatient ward in a psychiatric hospital. They found negative associations between length of use of coercive measures and the diagnosis of schizophrenia, being single, and the presence of academic nurses. Positive associations were found between length of use of coercive measures and the use of antipsychotic medications, violence towards oneself, and the use of restraint compared to seclusion. Interesting and important as they are, these results were obtained from data gathered in 2014. As the authors note, since then there has been a dramatic change in the official policy of the Israeli Ministry of Health on this topic and in the practice of seclusion and mechanical restraint in Israel. This commentary reviews and comments on the current situation.