Service user perspectives on psychosocial assessment following self-harm and its impact on further help-seeking: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Psychosocial assessment is a central aspect of managing self-harm in hospitals, designed to encompass needs and risk, and to lead to further care. However, little is known about service user experiences of assessment, or what aspects of assessment service users value. The aim of this study was to explore service user experiences of assessment, and examine the short-term and longer-term meanings of assessment for service users.

Method: Interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied to 13 interviews with service users following hospital attendance, and seven follow-up interviews conducted 3 months later.

Results: Few participants had a clear understanding of assessment's purpose. Assessment had the potential to promote or challenge hope, dependent on whether it was experienced as accepting or critical. If follow-up care did not materialise, this reinforced hopelessness and promoted disengagement from services.

Limitations: The study sample was small and the participants heterogeneous in terms of self-harm history, method and intent, which may limit the transferability of the findings to other settings. Only self-report data on clinical diagnosis were collected.

Conclusions: This was the first study to utilise an in-depth qualitative approach to investigate service user experiences of assessment and follow-up. The findings suggest that re-conceptualising psychosocial assessment as primarily an opportunity to engage service users therapeutically may consequently affect how health services are perceived. In order to maintain benefits established during the hospital experience, follow-up needs to be timely and integrated with assessment.