Ethical Impact Of Multi-Sensory Rooms

Introduction

There is a paucity of the impact of multi-sensory rooms in forensic mental health facilities. Multi-sensory rooms have recently been introduced at the High Secure Inpatient Service at the Park Centre for Mental Health. The proposed study aims to investigate the research question “What are the consumer and health practitioner perceptions of the impact of using multisensory rooms as an alternative for seclusion in a high secure forensic inpatient mental health ward?”. This essay aims to examine the historical context of the ethical principles relating to the research proposed study, the ethical procedures for conducting the research and the relevant ethical issues that apply to the proposed study. The study will involve one-on-one

Nuclear weapons testing sanctioned by the Australian government in the 1950’s resulted in radiation exposure related morbidity and mortality in indigenous communities (Walton, 2013). Doses of barbiturates and tranquilizers many times higher than the therapeutic limits were administered to psychiatric patients under the care of psychiatrist Harry Bailey in the 1960’s and 1970’s as part of his “deep sleep therapy”, which resulted in the death of twenty six patients at the Chelmsford Private Hospital (Hymans, 2000).

The National Statement on Ethical Research

The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007) establishes guidelines for researchers to conduct ethical research in Australia. According to the statement, all ethical research must display “respect for human beings, research merit and integrity, justice and beneficence” (NHMRC, 2007. Page 9.). The capacity of the proposed study to conform the statement’s guidelines would be assessed by the relevant Human Research Ethics Committee (West Moreton Human Research Ethics Committee) before any human research commences.

Research Design and

The interviews will use a range of questions as prompts to enable participants to maintain their focus on their perceptions of the value and effectiveness of sensory rooms, based upon their actual experiences. Each interview will last for at least 30 minutes. A ‘warming up’ preamble/discussion will be used at the start of the interview to reduce the risk of ‘stress of entry’ (Holloway & Fulbrook, 2001) where emphasis will be given to the importance of the interviewer wanting to hear the consumer’s view, in their own words, based upon their own experiences. A range of open-ended questions will be used to focus the interview (See appendix 3/4).

Participant Populations

Since the ratification of the Declaration of Helsinki, disadvantaged populations have been the subjects of unethical research. Economically and socially disadvantaged groups as well as individuals in unequal power relationships such as the homeless, racial minorities, prisoners and the mentally ill have been historically overrepresented in unethical research (Levine, et al., 2004.).

The target population of forensic mental health consumers is a highly disadvantaged group due to being in an unequal relationship with the medico-legal system and care must be taken to ensure ethical integrity is guaranteed. Members of the research team will not have existing clinical, managerial