Implementing a program to reduce restraint and seclusion utilization in a public-sector hospital: Clinical...

The Alternative to Restraint and Seclusion State Incentive Grant was a national initiative to reduce restraint and seclusion use in psychiatric hospitals and community based mental health settings sponsored by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors. This initiative was implemented in a large public sector psychiatric hospital. It involved the use of a restraint and seclusion prevention project team and a Patient-Staff Steering Committee collaborating on violence prevention. It also entailed systematic data collection and case reviews, staff-training on trauma-sensitive care and other relevant topics, employee recognition, as well as the use of specific restraint prevention tools including sensory modulation, positive behavioral support plans, comfort rooms, Wellness Recovery Action Plans, modified restraint orders, and new debriefing protocols. Compared with a 4-year baseline period, a 4-year implementation phase showed a reduction in annual restraints hours by 89%, annual staff injuries by 18%, and annual Workmen's Compensation medical costs by 24%. The findings illustrate the value of implementing systemic evidence-based practices to reduce restraint use, enhance the quality of care in tertiary care settings, and promote a new, patient-centered and recovery-oriented institutional culture. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).