A systematic review of the effectiveness of safewards: Has enthusiasm exceeded evidence?

Finch, Katie, Lawrence, Daniel, Williams, Marc, Thompson, Andrew

and Hartwright, Christopher 2022. A systematic review of the effectiveness of safewards: Has enthusiasm exceeded evidence? Issues in Mental Health Nursing 43 (2) , pp. 119-136. 10.1080/01612840.2021.1967533

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	PDF (Table 2 – Study Eligibility Criteria) - Supplemental Material Download (65kB)
	PDF (Table 4 – Studies on Containment) - Supplemental Material Download (165kB)
	PDF (Table 3 – Studies on Conflict) - Supplemental Material Download (151kB)
	PDF (Table 1 – The Ten Safewards Interventions) - Supplemental Material Download (56kB)
	PDF (Figure 1 – PRISMA Flow Diagram of Study Selection Process) - Supplemental Material Download (206kB)
	PDF (Table 5 – Studies on Ward Climate) - Supplemental Material Download (148kB)

Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2021.1967533

Abstract

Safewards is intended to be an evidence-based approach to reduce levels of conflict and containment in mental health inpatient settings. A systematic review was carried out to examine whether Safewards is effective in reducing conflict and containment events; and improving ward climate. Searches for articles evaluating the implementation of Safewards was conducted using PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and CINAHL. Thirteen studies were included for review after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs (QATSDD) was used to assess study quality and the majority of studies (N = 7) were rated as “moderate” quality. Whilst there is evidence to suggest that Safewards is effective for reducing conflict and containment in general mental health services, there is insufficient high-quality empirical evidence to support its effectiveness in settings beyond this. Further research using robust methodological designs with larger, more representative samples is required in order for the effectiveness of Safewards to be established across the range of contexts in which it is currently being applied.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	0161-2840
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 August 2021
Date of Acceptance:	7 August 2021
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2023 02:41
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/143340