Safewards in Acute Care: Evaluation of the adaptation and impact of Safewards in Acute Care wards

Abstract

Safewards is a model of practice improvement that has previously been trialled to promote a therapeutic response to minimise conflict events in mental health in-patient wards and emergency departments. This project (Safewards Acute Care) piloted the innovative strategies to implement Safewards interventions in four acute care wards within two metropolitan health services in Victoria, Australia. Due to workforce shortages and increased staff pressure caused by Omicron outbreak during project implementation phase, four instead of ten Safewards interventions were selected to be trialled in this pilot project. These four interventions (Know Each Other, Neat, Smart and Tidy, Calming Methods, and ..