Facilitating a hearing voices group on acute and psychiatric intensive care units to promote acceptance and hope: preliminary learning and reflections
| Date | 07 November 2023 |
| Pages | 821-829 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-09-2023-0099 |
| Published date | 07 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
| Author | John McEwan McManus,Styliani Gkika,Elaine Swift |
Facilitating a hearing voices group on
acute and psychiatric intensive care units
to promote acceptance and hope:
preliminary learning and reflections
John McEwan McManus, Styliani Gkika and Elaine Swift
Abstract
Purpose –Hearing voicescan be a debilitating and traumatic experience,and psychiatric hospitals can
feel unsafe and overstimulatingto voice hearers. Research suggests this may prolong a service user’s
admission time and lead to an unhelpful experience. Therefore, a hearing voices group (HVG) was
developed to create a safe space where voice hearers could share their story with others with lived
experienceand access support.
Design/methodology/approach –The group was developedby the first author under the supervision of
the inpatient psychologylead. Both a practice-based and expert by experience-based approach were
considered during the development of the group structure. The group also aligned with the Hearing
Voices Network and the Trust’svalues. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate theeffectiveness of
the group using six five-point Likert scale questionsand three open questions to collect thedata, which
was then analysed.
Findings –The themes from the qualitative data showed that staff and ward-based promotion of the
group were paramount to ensuring patient engagement. The results also showed that voice hearers
found thegroup therapeutic, and some foundthe coping skills shared to be beneficialand effective.
Research limitations/implications –A large percentage of women (76%) reported that they had
attended a HVG before. This was not the case for service users from the male unit and psychiatric
intensive care unit.This result is considered to reflect the factthat women in that unit had the opportunity
to attend more than once during their admission, rather than that they had accessed these groups in
other settings or in the community.Therefore, in the future, it would be useful to change this questionto
‘‘have you attended any other HVGs in the past, prior to this admission?’’, which might be more
appropriatefor data collection.
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’knowledge, this is the original work of the firstauthor, who
is an expert by experience and an assistant psychologist. The results suggest that HVGs can be
beneficial for patients in acute and intensive mental health care and highlight some necessary
adaptationsand the importance of adoptingan MDT approach in promoting therapeuticgroups.
Keywords Evaluation, schizophrenia, practice-based approach,lived experience, peer support,
psychosis, Hearing Voices Network, expert by experience, Hearing Voices, assistant psychologist
Paper type Research paper
1. Background
Since the beginning of the Hearing Voices Network (HVN) in 1987 by Dutch psychiatrist
Marius Romme, scientist and journalist Sandra Escher and voice hearer Patsy Hage, the
HVN has implemented several HVG’s, and it has established itself in 29 countries
worldwide. This collaboration between scientists and experts by experience has created a
large organisation that acts as a facilitator, mediator and advocate for voice hearers,
John McEwan McManus
and Styliani Gkika are both
based at Therapy Hub,
Greater Manchester Mental
Health NHS Foundation
Trust, Manchester, UK.
Elaine Swift is based at
Greater Manchester Mental
Health NHS Foundation
Trust, Manchester, UK.
DOI 10.1108/MHSI-09-2023-0099 VOL. 28 NO. 5 2024, pp. 821-829, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jPAGE 821
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