Abstract

Recently, there has been increased interest in the involvement of family members in treating psychiatric patients who are involuntarily admitted into mental hospitals (Goodwin and Happel 2006; Wilkinson and McAndrew 2008). Family is, for instance, expected to be of use in preventing escalations and aggression on the wards by giving information about patient needs and providing support to the patient. Yet, in practice, family is not routinely involved in the treatment process, and is not even regularly informed about situations (Marshall and Solomon 2003). Professionals mention privacy and confidentiality as issues that constrain collaboration with family (Goodwin and Happel 2006; Wynaden and Orb 2005). ..