[Opening up an acute psychiatric ward as a complex intervention].

Background: An open-door policy may help to reduce conflicts, aggression and containment measures in inpatient psychiatric care.

Objective: A complex intervention was performed including opening the doors of an acute psychiatric ward. The aim was to deescalate conflicts and reduce containment measures.

A retrospective analysis of determinants of involuntary psychiatric in-patient treatment.

Background: The purpose of our study was to identify predictors of a high risk of involuntary psychiatric in-patient treatment.

Methods: We carried out a detailed analysis of the 1773 mental health records of all the persons treated as in-patients under the PsychKG NRW (Mental Health Act for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) in a metropolitan region of Germany (the City of Cologne) in 2011. 3991 mental health records of voluntary in-patients from the same hospitals served as a control group.

Evaluation of a new person-centered integrated care model in psychiatry.

The present study evaluated a new integrated treatment concept offering inpatient care, acute psychiatric day hospital and outpatient treatment by the same therapeutic team. 178 patients participated in this randomized controlled trial. Data on psychopathology, global and social functioning, patient satisfaction, continuity of care and administrative data was gathered on admission, throughout the course of treatment, upon discharge and at 1-year follow-up.

[Evaluation of the German version of the STAR scale].

Objective: The assessment of the therapeutic relationship has become increasingly important due to evidence suggesting that it has a direct therapeutic effect and may improve outcome indirectly. In Great Britain and Sweden the STAR (Scale To Assess Therapeutic Relationship) was developed for pan-theoretical assessment of therapeutic relationships from both clinicians' and patients' points of view. We translated the English version of the instrument into German and made an analysis of its feasibility and reliability.