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HEAR US and I am HEARD are co-produced tools created by the East Midlands Reducing Restrictive Practice Community of Practice. They are designed to enable purposeful post-incident debrief conversations between staff and patients.
Click here to download HEAR US and I am HEARD.
"Our objective is that every patient has access to a purposeful post-incident debrief. By making these post-incident conversations meaningful, we hope to reduce the incidences of restrictive practice." Hannah Jackson-Cox, Senior Improvement Lead, Mental Health Programme, Health Innovation East Midlands
Hannah Jackson-Cox, Senior Improvement Lead, Mental Health Programme, Health Innovation East Midlands
The East Midlands Reducing Restrictive Practice Community of Practice (RRP CoP) is a community of mental health professionals, clerical staff, lived experience contributors and support staff from six of the largest East Midlands mental health providers. The CoP members work together as part of the Mental Health Local Programme 2023-25, commissioned by East Midland Alliance for Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism.
Developed by the East Midlands Reducing Restrictive Practice Community of Practice (CoP), HEAR US is a co-produced tool to enable a purposeful post incident debrief conversation.
HEAR US
Members of the CoP and Lived Experience Contributors reported that post-incident debriefs were not always happening and were not considered by patients to always add value to their care. The CoP set to work to improve this, by creating something accessible, that is co-produced and that both staff and patients could use as part of everyday care, as a complementary tool.
I am HEARD
We want patients to be in the driving seat of their care. We understand that for patients sometimes it can be difficult to let your care team know if something hasn’t met your expectations, or something in your care is missing. I am HEARD has been designed so that patients can tick off the 5 steps of a purposeful post-incident debriefs. Where something is missing, patients can use this tool as a conversation starter with their care team.
Is designed for both staff and patient use.
You may want to give HEAR US to patients on admission as part of their welcome packs or as a poster on the wall.
This tool is for patient use.
At the Mental Health Learning Event 2024: Caring Together, improving safety through experiences, the RRP Community of Practice led a workshop on the barriers and enablers of a purposeful post-incident debrief.
We took everyone’s feedback and used this to generate six key enablers to a purposeful debrief. Those six enablers, together make up HEAR US.
The tool was developed by the Community of Practice. The Lived Experience Contributors then took the tool onto the wards where they regularly provide peer support, to get the thoughts and views of staff and patients. This feedback was then brought back to the CoP and helped us to inform the design and wording.
We have three versions of the tool; A5 (leaflet size), A4 and A2 (poster sized). You can download these and use them in your ward area.
We recommend giving a copy of the A4 version to patients as part of their admission. This doesn’t mean they necessarily can expect to need a post-incident review, but it helps to be transparent about what they can expect should that arise.
We recommend putting the A2 version up on the wall.
Debriefs are often referred to as ‘Hot’ or ‘Cold’. A ‘hot’ debrief immediately follows an incident and focusses on immediate support and safety.
Whereas a ‘cold’ debrief is usually following an incident, though not immediately afterwards. 'Cold' debriefs tend to be reflective and are often structured as a conversation. A ‘cold’ debrief is focussed on learning, understanding and improving care and support going forward.
HEAR US is designed to be used in ‘cold’ debrief situations.
Click here to download the tool