Fostering trauma-free mental health workplace cultures and reducing seclusion and restraint

Literature on the factors which precipitate the use of seclusion and restraint on mental health consumers is typically confined to their behaviour and/or the behaviour and attitudes of the involved clinical staff. These understandings do not sufficiently take account of workplace cultural factors and political influences within a societal context of prejudice against people with mental illness. The elimination of coercive and restrictive clinical practices is called for by mental health carer forums, national and state level mental health reports and policies, and concerned mental health clinicians. The authors argue this will require radical change by all staff in the mental health system as violence is a systemic issue which creates a culture where clinical practices are prone to reinforcing this systemic violence. A mapping template and a warrants schema are presented as examples of tools to enable trauma-informed cultural change in mental health systems