In the UK, about 100,000 people are discharged from mental health hospital every year, with the 3-6 months following discharge posing a high risk to patient safety, correlated with high rates of suicide and readmission. However, the post-discharge period can be impacted by poor coordination between services and loss of essential information. For person-centred support at the point of discharge, patients and carers must feel psychologically safe (i.e., able to take interpersonal risks without fearing negative consequences) to express their concerns or ask questions about their discharge plan, to promote shared decision-making and person-centred support. Yet, in these vulnerable moments, patients and carers often report feeling powerless and lacking a voice. Previous research focuses mainly on process measures and adverse events, with limited focus on psychological safety during discharge. Through this project, I plan to explore how psychological safety can be improved for patients and their carers during mental health hospital discharge. By the end, I hope to have co-designed a set of recommendations for improvement in collaboration with patients, clinicians, and carers.
