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This qualitative study aims to explore healthcare professionals' (HCPs) perceptions of facilitators and barriers in their collaboration with family caregivers in forensic mental health care (FMHC). A thematic analysis resulted in two interrelated themes: (1): Organizational constraints , with subthemes Resource-driven time and staffing constraints , Duty of confidentiality , and External substance use treatment , and (2) Collaboration with family caregivers , with subthemes Alliance in collaboration , and Overinvolvement. The findings show that HCPs prefer family caregivers to support care and treatment, reflecting a unilateral direction of support. Family caregivers of service users in forensic mental health care settings are burdened by the service user's mental illness, offense(s) and difficult collaboration with health care professionals, including nurses. However, the involvement and support of family caregivers in mental healthcare is a national and international objective in policy papers and guidelines because it has been documented to foster the recovery process of service users. Healthcare professionals' perceptions regarding facilitators and barriers in relation to the involvement of family caregivers in the care and treatment of the service user, is needed for the healthcare professionals for optimal support of the service user and family caregivers. • Healthcare professionals perceive alliances with family caregivers as a facilitator for service user care and treatment • Critical family caregivers are often seen as overinvolved and difficult by healthcare professionals • Collaboration tends to reflect a unilateral support mode, as perceived by healthcare professionals [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of parents in forensic mental health services with regard to their cooperation with healthcare professionals and their role as parent carers. 15 participants were interviewed using qualitative, in-depth interviews and transcripts were analysed thematically. The identified themes were 'Medical dominance', 'Interactions with healthcare professionals', and 'Advocating for their daughter/son'. The themes were associated with the overall theme 'perceived impact on the parents' everyday lives'. The results suggest that parent carers perceive a malalignment between the institutional medicalised treatment focus and the need for an integrated holistic approach, which would include them as partners. • Carer involvement has a positive impact on service users' illness trajectory. • Little is known specifically about parent carers in forensic mental health services. • Parents in forensic mental health services experience severe difficulties in getting support by the healthcare professionals. • Parent felt compelled to act in a demanding advocacy role, increasing the burden impact within the parents' everyday lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationally, clinical services are under pressure to reduce their use of restrictive practices. The aim was to explore how mental health nurses and nursing assistants perceive conflict and their use of restrictive practices with mental health inpatients in forensic mental health care. A total of 24 semi-structured interviews with forensic mental health staff were conducted and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings propose a dynamic model that explains how tolerance of potential conflict situations changes depending on individual staff members' perceptions of patients and colleagues, and their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]