| Title: |
Imagining a Safe Space:Australian community views about what makes crisis mental health services ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ |
| Authors: |
Stewart, Erin; Morse, Alyssa R.; Lamb, Heather; Oni, Helen T.; Giugni, Mel; Ellis, Louise A.; Chakouch, Cassandra; Smith, Dianna G.; Fitzpatrick, Scott J.; Banfield, Michelle |
| Source: |
Stewart, E, Morse, A R, Lamb, H, Oni, H T, Giugni, M, Ellis, L A, Chakouch, C, Smith, D G, Fitzpatrick, S J & Banfield, M 2026, 'Imagining a Safe Space : Australian community views about what makes crisis mental health services ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 23, no. 1, 4, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010004 |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Subject Terms: |
crisis; health systems; lived experience; mental health; safety; suicide prevention |
| Description: |
Highlights: Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue? Safety is a primary concern of mental health services. Current conceptualisations of safety focus on risk management. Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health? Novel insights into service ‘safety’ and ‘unsafety’ from mental health consumers. Experiences of safety shape levels of satisfaction and future service use. Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policymakers, and/or researchers? Risk management focus on safety is inadequate and harmful. Attention needed to spatial, temporal, and relational dimensions of safety. Mental health services have an interest in maintaining psychosocial safety for consumers, carers, and staff alike. While much discussion around safety in service delivery pertains to the likelihood of patients engaging in damaging behaviours, we take the position that community attitudes towards safety offer more expansive, relational, and spatial definitions of safety. In a survey consisting of a mix of open and closed questions of 279 Australians aged 16–87 years, participants were asked to comment on their experiences of safety and unsafety in emergency mental health service use, as well as what they consider to be a safe or unsafe service. Applying a thematic analysis to the data, findings showed that emergency departments are not safe or appropriate for mental health consumers. Participants had heterogenous but largely consistent ideas about what made a service safe. Elements of safety mentioned by participants included a therapeutic orientation to time; service predictability; sensory dimensions of safety; and feeling understood. For some participants, notions of safety and unsafety dictated not only their satisfaction with services but overall likelihood of service use, thereby emphasising the critical importance of community attitudes towards safety in service design and delivery. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/41595798 |
| DOI: |
10.3390/ijerph23010004 |
| Availability: |
https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/publications/ab178d55-4c57-4840-8c30-0b0dbfbd1719; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph23010004; https://research-management.mq.edu.au/ws/files/508696708/Publisher_version_open_access_.pdf; https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105028493740 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.A20A863 |
| Database: |
BASE |