Envisioning a safety paradigm in inpatient mental health settings: Moving beyond zero-risk approaches

A zero-risk paradigm currently dominates the organization and delivery of mental health care within inpatient settings, giving rise to a proliferation of risk management strategies that are ineffective and produce harms. Drawing on Foucault’s confinement and grounded in a comprehensive analysis of the extant literature, we identify three central processes that constitute this paradigm, including: risk is situated within the patient; eliminating risk is a foundational aim; and mental health professionals lead decision-making. Responding to the zero-risk paradigm, this paper proposes a novel safety paradigm comprised of four intersecting components, undertaken collectively by mental health professionals to guide practice: i) holding risk, ii) building capacity, iii) prioritizing relationships, and iv) re-envisioning environments. Foundationally underlying these commitments is direct action toward reducing coercive practices and structures, such as chemical and physical restraints, seclusion, and door locking. Mental health professionals are encouraged to challenge the zero-risk paradigm and its resultant risk management approaches, and embrace a safety paradigm to meaningfully re-orient care toward enhancing patients’ safety and well-being during and following hospitalization.