ArticleBJPsych open2020
Carers' experiences of involuntary admission under mental health legislation: systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis.
Article in BJPsych open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- Experiences and Perspectives of Families of Psychiatric Hospitalisation of Their Adult Family Member: A Qualitative Systematic Review.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Pooled it
- The qualitative accounts of black informal carers of people with psychosis and their experiences accessing mental health services: a systematic review.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Pooled it
- A qualitative meta-synthesis of service users' and carers' experiences of assessment and involuntary hospital admissions under mental health legislations: a five-year update.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Perceptions about children and adolescents' mental health crisis intervention: a qualitative systematic review.Cadernos de saude publica · 2024Pooled it
- Invisible experts: a systematic review & thematic synthesis of informal carer experiences of inpatient mental health care.BMC psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Feasibility testing and preliminary trial of a crisis planning and monitoring intervention to reduce compulsory readmissions: the FINCH Study.BMC medicine · 2025Trial
- Ethnic minority carers' experiences of in-patient mental healthcare: qualitative study.BJPsych open · 2026Article
- Informal carers' experiences of mental health services regarding supporting those they care for and getting support for their own wellbeing: A systematic umbrella review of qualitative evidence.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- A systematic review of co-production approaches that involve family members, loved ones, or carers in the development of mental health or substance use resources/interventions.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Review
- The contribution ofBJPsych open · 2025Article
- Co-designing a peer support programme for carers of people treated under the Mental Health Act: views from stakeholders.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Supporting unpaid carers during section 17 leave from mental health in-patient wards: carer and practitioner perspectives.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- Interventions that support unpaid carers of adult mental health inpatients: a scoping review.Journal of mental health (Abingdon, England) · 2025Article
- Can using the Cochrane RCT classifier in EPPI-Reviewer help speed up study selection in qualitative evidence syntheses? A retrospective evaluation.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2025Article
- Exploring pathways to compulsory detention in psychiatric hospital and ways to prevent repeat detentions; Service user perspectives.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Exploring pathways to compulsory detention and ways to prevent repeat compulsory detentions in England; clinician perspectives.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Strategies to promote treatment compliance: a grounded theory study with relatives of people with a serious mental health condition.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Experiences of support received by carers of people who are involuntarily admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act: qualitative study of carers' perspectives.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Supporting unpaid carers around hospital leave for people detained under the Mental Health Act (1983) in England: carer and practitioner perspectives.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- A crisis planning and monitoring intervention to reduce compulsory hospital readmissions (FINCH study): protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCarers are key providers of care and support to mental health patients and mental health policies consistently mandate carer involvement. Understanding carers' experiences of and views about assessment for involuntary admission and subsequent detention is crucial to efforts to improve policy and practice.
aimsWe aimed to synthesise qualitative evidence of carers' experiences of the assessment and detention of their family and friends under mental health legislation.
methodWe searched five bibliographic databases, reference lists and citations. Studies were included if they collected data using qualitative methods and the patients were aged 18 or older; reported on carer experiences of assessment or detention under mental health legislation anywhere in the world; and were published in peer-reviewed journals. We used meta-synthesis.
resultsThe review included 23 papers. Themes were consistent across time and setting and related to the emotional impact of detention; the availability of support for carers; the extent to which carers felt involved in decision-making; relationships with patients and staff during detention; and the quality of care provided to patients. Carers often described conflicting feelings of relief coupled with distress and anxiety about how the patient might cope and respond. Carers also spoke about the need for timely and accessible information, supportive and trusting relationships with mental health professionals, and of involvement as partners in care.
conclusionsResearch is needed to explore whether and how health service and other interventions can improve the involvement and support of carers prior to, during and after the detention of family members and friends.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.