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Introduction: Narratives of negative patient experiences expressed in complaints can help health care professionals reflect on their practices. Aims: To synthesise evidence from qualitative primary studies on patients' negative experiences with different health care settings and to obtain a detailed picture of what patients find problematic while receiving health care. Design: Metasynthesis inspired by Sandelowski and Barroso. Methods: A protocol was published in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO). A systematic search was conducted in CINAHL (EBSCOhost), MEDLINE (EBSCOhost), PsycInfo (Ovid) and Scopus, on 20.04.2021. Backward and forward citations of included reports were searched for relevant studies and the search was completed in March 2022. Two researchers independently screened and appraised the included reports. A metasynthesis using reflexive thematic analysis and a metasummary were conducted. Results: Twenty‐four reports were included, and four main themes were extracted from the metasynthesis: (1) problems with access to health care services; (2) failure to acquire information about diagnosis, treatment and the expected patient role; (3) experiencing inappropriate care and bad treatment; (4) problems with trusting health care service providers. Conclusions: Negative patient experiences impact patients' physical and psychological health, leading to suffering and hampering patients from involving themselves in their health care. Relevance to clinical practice: Narratives of negative patient experiences aggregated from the findings provide knowledge about what patients need and expect from health care providers. These narratives can help health care professionals reflect on the way they interact with patients and improve their practice. Health care organisations need to prioritise patient participation. Reporting method: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Patient or public contribution: Findings were presented and discussed in a meeting with a reference group representing patients, health care professionals and the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper points out some problematic aspects of qualitative research based on interviews and uses examples from mental health. The narrative approach is explored while inquiring if the reality of life here is forced into the formula of a chronological story. The hermeneutic approach, in general, is also examined, and we ask if the reality of life in this scenario becomes caught up in a web of interpretations. Inspired by ideas from Bakhtin and phenomenology, we argue for interview-based research that stays with unresolvedness and constantly question the web of interpretations and narratives that determine our experiences. This also chimes with certain dialogical practices in mental health in which tolerance of uncertainty is the guiding principle. Concludingly, we suggest that interview-based research could be a practice of 'un-resolving' in which researchers, together with the participants, look for cracks, contradictions, and complexities to prevent the qualitative fallacies of well-organized meanings and well-composed stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to explore the ways in which "small things" may be of importance for people with mental health difficulties. Method: Empirical material from three different studies was reanalysed through a phenomenological, dialogical, approach. Results: We discovered some paradoxical aspects of small things: i.e., they could be about "something" that was difficult or even impossible to identify. The unidentifiable could be about bodily, sensual experiences that are superficial (i.e., belonging to the surface). The interaction with others highlighted as significant could be about doing something fun, talking nonsense or kidding around, and hence not at all about making sense of something—a kind of important nonsense. We summarize these aspects in three themes: the importance of the unidentifiable, the superficial and nonsense. These aspects can be regarded as small things—even "nothings"—that make it possible "to stay in the world". Conclusion: We elaborate on the findings in relation to the following: Gumbrecht's critique of the prevailing hermeneutic world-view with its idea that "interpretation is humankind's exclusive way of relating to the world", Ingold's idea that social life is lived in relations of "interfacility" and hence a turn to surfaces is needed for a "restoration of social life", and Biesta's idea of existence as "coming into the world in the presence of others". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of autonomy and liberty are established goals in mental health care; however, involuntary commitment is used towards people with mental health and substance abuse problems (dual diagnosis). To explore how patients and staff act in the context of involuntary commitment, how interactions are described and how they might be interpreted. Ethnographic methodology in a locked psychiatric ward in Norway. Two parallel images emerged: (a) The ward as a hotel. Several patients wanted a locked ward for rest and safety, even when admission was classified as involuntary. The staff was concerned about using the ward for real treatment of motivated people, rather than merely as a comfortable hotel for the unmotivated. (b) The ward as a detention camp. Other patients found involuntary commitment and restrictions in the ward as a kind of punishment, offending them as individuals. Contrary, the staff understood people with dual diagnoses more like a generalized group in need of their control and care. Patients and staff have different perceptions of involuntary commitment. Based on the patients' points of view, mental health care ought to be characterized by inclusion and recognition, treating patients as equal citizens comparable to guests in a hotel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]