Safeguarding Experiences of People in Mental Distress, Police and Healthcare Practitioners: An Integrative Review.
Inga Heyman, Catriona Kennedy, Aileen Grant and 1 others
PMID 40810651WHAT IT FOUND
People in mental distress often felt unheard, dismissed or unsafe in police and emergency care.
Stigma, delays caused by intoxication and poor transfer of care were recurring problems.
Key findings
01People using emergency departments for mental health care often felt dismissed and trapped in cycles because community support was absent.
02Intoxicated self-harm presentations often left the emergency department before assessment, and nurses reported feeling ill-equipped for these complex cases.
03Police and health services struggled to transfer care for people who did not require inpatient care but still needed safety support, especially after 5 pm.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The search, screening and quality appraisal were done by one author, which may introduce bias. Only English-language studies from 10 countries were included, so findings may not transfer to other health systems or cultures. Many included studies were quantitative or retrospective records reviews, and police or health records can have recording bias. No randomised controlled trials were identified, so the review cannot establish which interventions improve safeguarding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the review as evidence that a particular police or emergency department intervention works. It describes experiences and system gaps, and no randomised controlled trials were identified.