Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Primary and Allied Health Care, Monash University, Frankston, Victoria, Australia.
Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov;30(6):e5839-e5847. doi: 10.1111/hsc.14015. Epub 2022 Sep 7.
Women should be able to access mental health services that are safe, free from harassment and abuse. Yet, research indicates that women experiencing mental health issues are often not safe in mixed gender environments, and especially in inpatient settings. This qualitative study draws on a photo-elicitation method ('photovoice') and semi-structured interviews to explore women's experiences of a sub-acute women-only prevention and recovery care (PARC) service in Australia. Twelve women experiencing mental health issues were recruited via an aftercare peer support group for recent service participants. The women took photographs guided by the central question: 'What were your experiences of a women-only prevention and recovery care service?' They then shared these photographs with the researchers and each other, and described them in detail. Four key themes were identified by thematic analysis of the photovoice visual and narrative data: (a) Only women can understand what women go through; (b) I feel safer with no men around due to my history of trauma; (c) This environment feels safe, making it easier to talk and (d) Staff are accessible and make time for me to talk about difficult topics. Woven throughout the women's narratives was the expressed desire to feel safe and supported during the process of recovering. Aspects of service delivery that contributed to these feelings and facilitated shared support were also valued in this setting. These findings indicate that access to women-only services and peer support are not only valued by women experiencing mental health issues, but need to be more widely available to support their recovery. They also underline the importance of a trauma-informed approach for improving the gender sensitivity of services.
妇女应该能够获得安全、免受骚扰和虐待的心理健康服务。然而，研究表明，患有精神健康问题的妇女在男女混合的环境中往往不安全，尤其是在住院环境中。这项定性研究借鉴了照片诱发法（“摄影心声”）和半结构化访谈，以探讨澳大利亚亚急性妇女专用预防和康复护理（PARC）服务中妇女的经历。通过最近服务参与者的同伴支持小组，招募了 12 名患有精神健康问题的妇女。这些妇女在中心问题的指导下拍摄照片：“您在妇女专用预防和康复护理服务中的经历是什么？”然后，他们与研究人员和彼此分享了这些照片，并详细描述了这些照片。通过对摄影心声视觉和叙事数据的主题分析，确定了四个关键主题：（a）只有女性才能理解女性所经历的一切；（b）由于我有创伤史，所以没有男人在身边，我感到更安全；（c）这种环境感觉很安全，使我更容易交谈；（d）工作人员可以随时为我提供帮助，与我谈论困难的话题。在妇女的叙述中，贯穿始终的是在康复过程中感到安全和得到支持的愿望。在这种环境中，有助于产生这些感觉并促进共同支持的服务提供方面也受到重视。这些发现表明，获得妇女专用服务和同伴支持不仅受到患有精神健康问题的妇女的重视，而且需要更广泛地提供这些服务，以支持她们的康复。它们还强调了采用创伤知情方法来提高服务对性别的敏感性的重要性。
