Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group (MENT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090, Brussels, Belgium.
Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
BMC Med Ethics. 2022 Apr 9;23(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12910-022-00778-9.
To prevent sexual boundary violations (SBV) in mental health care institutions overall governments require these institutions to report SBV incidents to a central registry and to develop institutional guidelines how to react. In Europe SBV policies are only recently developed or implemented, as is also the case in Flanders (Belgium). The implementation of a new institutional policy is always a challenge and can encounter resistance, especially when it concerns SBV, because they remain delicate and complex.
This study evaluated the extent to which mandatory policies on SBV have been implemented in mental health care institutions in Flanders, and possible factors for (non-)implementation of these policies. An online survey was sent to the executives of all mental health care institutions in Flanders (N = 162).
In total 56 executives of mental health care institutions filled out the survey (response rate 35%). Results showed that the implementation of an SBV policy in mental health care institutions is unfortunately inadequate and not all SBV incidents were reported to the central registry. Type of institution and opinions on the SBV policy were related to the (non-)implementation of the requirements.
It is recommended that governments regularly communicate with mental health care institutions to better understand the concerns and difficulties concerning implementation of the required SBV policy and to support/stimulate an organisational culture of more openness and safety on this topic.
为了防止心理健康机构中的性边界违规行为（SBV），政府要求这些机构向中央登记处报告 SBV 事件，并制定机构应对指南。在欧洲，SBV 政策最近才得到制定或实施，比利时的佛兰德斯（Flanders）地区也是如此。实施新的机构政策始终是一项挑战，可能会遇到阻力，尤其是在涉及 SBV 时，因为它们仍然是敏感和复杂的。
本研究评估了强制性 SBV 政策在佛兰德斯地区心理健康机构中的实施程度，以及这些政策实施的可能因素。向佛兰德斯所有心理健康机构的管理人员发送了在线调查（N=162）。
共有 56 名心理健康机构的管理人员填写了调查（回应率为 35%）。结果表明，心理健康机构 SBV 政策的实施情况不尽如人意，并非所有 SBV 事件都向中央登记处报告。机构类型和对 SBV 政策的看法与（未）实施要求有关。
建议政府定期与心理健康机构沟通，以更好地了解实施所需 SBV 政策的关注点和困难，并支持/激励在这一主题上更开放和安全的组织文化。
