Experiences of a day treatment service using phenomenological analysis: ‘Six weeks of little steps in the right direction’

ABSTRACT

Background: A qualitative service evaluation was undertaken of a Day Treatment Service (DTS). The service consists of partial hospitalisation for individuals with acute mental ill health using a rolling, six-week, multidisciplinary programme.

Objective: The service evaluation aimed to explore the nature of the experience of attending a DTS from the perspective of the patient to shed light on the therapeutic aspects of the DTS and areas that need improvement.

Method: Five participants were invited to take part in a semi-structured interview about their experiences of the DTS. Phenomenological analysis was chosen to interpret the data.

Results: The results demonstrated that the participants valued the DTS and made positive gains. Several themes were identified, including the DTS acting as a supportive frame, collaborative staff support and peer relations within a group context. The results are interpreted using theoretical knowledge on group dynamics.

Discussion: A number of implications for practice were highlighted. To increase peer interactions the space designated for patients and unstructured time within the DTS should be protected. To reduce patients’ anxieties during the end of treatment careful preparation should take place to integrate them into the community. Future research is needed in order to inform standardised, high quality service guidelines.

KEYWORDS:

• Day
• treatment
• partial
• hospitalisation
• qualitative
• phenomenology
• social inclusion
• peer support

Acknowledgements

The authors thank: Mrs Sue Carter, who instigated and very successfully managed the evaluated service into the reflective, patient-centred team it is today; the entire staff at the DTS for the enthusiastic and meaningful care they provide, which we believe is reflected in the participant comments in this work; and Mr Jon Cooley, for managing the DTSs with compassion, humour, and thoughtfulness. They also thank Dr Vivien Tribe, PhD for reviewing this article for language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.