EXPERIENCES OF DISENGAGEMENT FROM MENTAL
HEALTH SERVICES: AN INTERPRETATIVE STUDY
by
CHRISTOPHER WAGSTAFF
A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Nursing, Health & Population Sciences College of Medical & Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
2015
University of Birmingham Research Archive
e-theses repository
This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation.
Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder.
ABSTRACT
Whilst there is evidence of a range of effective treatments available for people with severe mental health problems (SMHP), people frequently disengage from mental health services (MHS). This thesis investigates experiences of disengagement of people with SMHP and comprises two studies: 1) semi-structured interviews to elicit the experiences of people with SMHP and a history of disengagement from MHS; and 2) building on those findings, focus groups with staff from assertive outreach teams (specialising in providing care for people with SMHP and a history of disengagement).
The participants were those perceived as the most disengaged from MHS yet they were willing to engage with the research. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to develop themes for individual participants and then across the participants. Disengagement from MHS was part of a wider experience of a limited connection to social structures, including an ambivalent and complex relationship with MHS. There was a sense of sadness in all aspects of the participants’ experience but they had developed strategies to reinforce personal resilience and to reassert personal identity.
The findings of this thesis can be employed to better understand the context of disengagement from MHS and consequently better inform future engagement with this client group
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly, I would like to acknowledge my office mates Tracey Valler and Helen Frank for putting up with me whilst I wrote my PhD. Helen, in particular, showed great sufferance during my analysis of study 1. I would also like to thank various colleagues – Dr Amelia Swift, Dr Alistair Hewison, Dr Caroline Bradbury-Jones, Dr Tarsem Singh-Cooner, Prof Fiona Irvine, Dr Michael Larkin, and Richard Salkeld amongst others – who have offered invaluable support and guidance along the way.
I would also like to thank all the people in the participating NHS Trust for their support, time and patience whilst I was doing both study 1 and 2. Thanks must also go out to the seven participants in study 1 to whom the world of academia may seem a strange place, but agreed to share their experiences with me, especially to ‘Clue’ who has subsequently passed away. Without them there would not have been a thesis.
I must thank my supervisors Dr Bob Williams, Dr Derek Farrell and Dr Herman Wheeler for their input at various stages of the project, but most of all to Dr Hermine Graham for being with me from beginning to end.
Finally I would like to thank my eldest two sons, Zach and Sheridan, for taking an interest in the study and my wife, Angie, for providing constructive criticisms at opportune moments. Also I must thank my mother, Jean, for both proof reading this thesis and unflagging support throughout my education. Related to which I would like to thank my late father, Ian, for being an inspiration to me and without whom I probably would not have done a PhD.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................3
1.1 Definitions ...................................................................................................................5
1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.1.5
Severe mental health problems.............................................................................5 Dual diagnosis ......................................................................................................5 Disengagement from mental health services........................................................7 Assertive Outreach .............................................................................................13 Summary.............................................................................................................16
1.2 Literature Review ......................................................................................................17
1.2.1 1.2.2
Summary and critique of the literature...............................................................19 Background literature summary .........................................................................30
1.3 Study Aim and Research Questions...........................................................................31
2.1 IPA and Philosophical Underpinnings.......................................................................33
2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3
Phenomenology, hermeneutics and idiography..................................................33 Critique of phenomenology in nursing research.................................................34 Interpretative phenomenological analysis and methodological considerations .38
2.2 IPA and Focus Groups...............................................................................................43
3.1 Summary....................................................................................................................46 3.2 Study 1: Method.........................................................................................................46
3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3
Sampling, access and recruitment ......................................................................46 Development of the interview schedule .............................................................48 Data collection....................................................................................................48
3.2.4 3.2.5
Data analysis.......................................................................................................50 Ethical issues and trustworthiness of voice........................................................53
3.3 Study 2 .......................................................................................................................58
3.3.1 3.3.2 3.3.3 3.3.4 3.3.5
Background.........................................................................................................58 Sampling, access and recruitment ......................................................................58 Development of the interview schedule. ............................................................58 Method................................................................................................................59 Data analysis.......................................................................................................60
4.1 Participants’ Characteristics ......................................................................................62 4.2 Research Findings......................................................................................................65
Individual idiographic statements.....................................................................................65 4.2.1 4.2.2 4.2.3 4.2.4 4.2.5 4.2.6 4.2.7
Arthur .................................................................................................................65 Black Zee............................................................................................................67 Bubbles...............................................................................................................68 Clue.....................................................................................................................71 Josh.....................................................................................................................72 Rebel...................................................................................................................75 T..........................................................................................................................76
4.3 Superordinate and Subordinate Themes ....................................................................78
4.3.1 4.3.2
Theme A: Limited connection with social structures.........................................80 Theme B: Multiple strategies to reinforce personal resilience and to reassert personal identity .............................................................................................................102
4.4 Study 2 Findings ......................................................................................................110
4.4.1 4.4.2
Summary...........................................................................................................110 The dichotomy of assertive outreach teams’ roles ...........................................111
4.4.3 4.4.4 4.4.5 4.4.6 4.4.7 4.4.8
Words used were an important component of engagement..............................112 Medication is a difficult issue...........................................................................113 Drugs are part of everyday life for service users..............................................113 Cultural aspect to the experience of disengagement ........................................114 Professionals’ awareness of spirituality. ..........................................................117 Age does not make a difference?......................................................................118
5.1 What are the Experiences of People with a Diagnosis of Severe Mental Health Problems and a History of Disengagement from Mental Health Services? .......................120
5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.1.4 5.1.5 5.1.6 5.1.7 5.1.8 5.1.9
Recruitment of participants ..............................................................................122 Limited connections to social structures ..........................................................123 Relationship with mental health services .........................................................126 Medication and the relationship with mental health services...........................129 Models of disengagement.................................................................................130 Identity..............................................................................................................138 Belonging to and exclusion from community and society ...............................140 Disengagement, family and social support.......................................................144 Implications for future practice ........................................................................147
5.1.10 What are the experiences of people with a diagnosis of severe mental health problems and a history of disengagement from mental health services? Conclusion....152
5.2 How do the Research Participants Understand their own Health, Well-being and Illness?................................................................................................................................154
5.2.1 5.2.2
Future practice..................................................................................................159 How do the research participants understand their own health, well-being and illness? Conclusion.........................................................................................................160
5.3 How do the Research Participants Perceive their Needs in Relation to Statutory Mental Health Services?.....................................................................................................161
5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.3.4 5.3.5
Perspectives on medication ..............................................................................162 Changing perceptions with age ........................................................................163 Faith, spirituality and solace.............................................................................165 Future practice..................................................................................................166 Conclusion........................................................................................................167
5.4 What are the Research Participants’ Understandings of the Role of Drugs and Alcohol within their Lived Experience?.............................................................................168
5.4.1 5.4.2
Future practice..................................................................................................173 Conclusion........................................................................................................174
5.5 Critique of Study/ Limitations of Study ..................................................................174 5.6 Publication ...............................................................................................................176
6.1 Implications for Practice..........................................................................................179 6.2 Implications for the Methodology ...........................................................................183 6.3 Implications for Future Research.............................................................................184 6.4 Implications for Policy.............................................................................................185
REFERENCES .....................................................................................................................188 APPENDICES.......................................................................................................................222
Appendix 1: Cycle of Avoidance Permission................................................................222 Appendix 2: Interview Schedule....................................................................................224 Appendix 3: Reflective Diary ........................................................................................226 Appendix 5: Examples of Clustered Codes ...................................................................260 Appendix 6: Summary Table of all Themes ..................................................................272 Appendix 7: Permission from RCN Publishing.............................................................275 Appendix 8: Ethical Approval from BEN NRES ..........................................................276 Appendix 9: Consent Form............................................................................................280 Appendix 10: Patient Information Sheet (PIS1)..............................................................281 Appendix 11: Study 2 Consent Form ..............................................................................286 Appendix 12: Study 2 Participant Information Sheet (PIS2) ..........................................287 Appendix 13: Study 2 Ethical Approval..........................................................................290 Appendix 14: Oxford University Press Permission.........................................................291
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Process of the Literature Review ..............................................................................18 Figure 2: Biddle et al. (2007) Cycle of Avoidance (COA) ......................................................24 Figure 3: Analysis Process (Wagstaff & Williams, 2014) .......................................................52 Figure 4: Schematic Illustration of the Experience of Social defeat as the Common Mechanism Underlying Six Major Schizophrenia Risk Factors ............................................125
Table 1: Search Terms for the Literature Review ....................................................................17 Table 2: Participants’ Characteristics.......................................................................................62