Patients' experience of learning and gaining personal knowledge during a stay at a mental hospital

Abstract

The focus is on voluntarily hospitalized patients' subjective experiences of learning and gaining personal knowledge during a stay at a mental hospital. The aim was to explore and describe patients' learning as personal knowledge acquisition related to the therapeutic process during hospitalization. The study was exploratory and descriptive, with a hermeneutic--phenomenological approach in data collection and analysis. Qualitative interviews were carried out with 15 patients during and after their stay. A re-analysis was conducted. The results underline the importance of the environmental effects on patients' motivation for learning and self-esteem in an acknowledging milieu. Moving towards relearning presupposes that the patient's motivation is aroused. Patients must participate in the treatment and the validity of the knowledge must be tested in the individual patient's life. The patients confirmed and helped each other to increase insight through recognizing each other's problems and reactions. Time in itself seemed to increase self-reflection. Receiving impulses and getting concrete tools through therapy stimulated meaning and hope for future living. The professionals must use a holistic approach including a learning climate in pleasant surroundings and a conjoint contribution from fellow patients and staff. Further research should focus on how to combine therapy with learning--preferably by means of a co-operative inquiry design.

Constructing patient–psychiatrist relations in psychiatric hospitals: the role of space and personal action

“…8. See Borge and Hummelvoll (2008) ;Goss, Moretti, Mazzi, Piccolo, Rimondini & Zimmermann (2008); Lezzoni, Ramanan and Lee (2006). 9.…”

Motivasjon til livsstilsendring hos personer med sykelig overvekt

“…Bandura (13) beskriver at atferden vår blir påvirket gjennom modellaering. Brukere kan også vaere gode laeringsmodeller for hverandre gjennom gjenkjennelse av hverandres problemer og reaksjoner (26). Noen av informantene opplevde dette gjennom deltakelse i selvhjelpsgrupper, hvor de motiverte hverandre til mer helsefremmende atferd.…”

Learning through Cognitive Milieu Therapy among Inpatients with Dual Diagnosis: A Qualitative Study of Interdisciplinary Collaboration

“…Furthermore, explicit in the CMT approach is commitment, respect, and equal partnership (collaborative empiricism); these are important aspects of treatment that improve the therapeutic relationships (Beck, 1995). These aspects are also emphasized in other studies of the treatment milieu and learning climate, showing that the relationships among patients and between patients and staff are essential to promoting learning, development, growth, and maturation (Borge & Hummelvoll, 2008;Johansson & Eklund, 2003;Røssberg & Friis, 2004).…”

“…These qualities are also called "befriending" and seem to be important as a form of social support in order to keep up an active engagement of patients in mental health care (Milne, Wharton, James, & Turkington, 2006). These features engender feelings of recognition, cooperation, and personal value in patients (Borge & Fagermoen, 2008;Borge & Hummelvoll, 2008;Scaturo, 2010;Stickley & Freshwater, 2009). A good learning climate, created through interdisciplinary collaboration, and its environmental impact, can be key features in the individual patient's learning process and can be understood from a sociocultural perspective.…”

“…A psychiatric hospital can be considered a place of learning (Borge & Hummelvoll, 2008). This requires structures and a culture that support new ways of thinking so that new practices can be adopted (Birleson, 1998).…”