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Abstract

Positive patient outcomes are related to patient satisfaction and the meaningfulness of their hospital experience. Limited attention has been paid to how adolescent psychiatric in-patients experience their treatment course. This study was developed to examine how hospitalized adolescents experience the treatment milieu during an acute hospitalization in a crisis stabilization unit. The study consisted of a survey administered to 105 in-patients at the time of their discharge from the unit. The most meaningful experiences were those in which adolescents focused on issues related to hospitalization and learned skills for breaking problems down into manageable pieces which included setting realistic and achievable goals. Males and females did not significantly differ in their experience of the unit. Identifying the adolescents’ needs and teaching them goal-setting appears to be very important in acute in-patient care. Adolescents reported peer contact and goal-setting work to be the most meaningful experiences.

Keywords

adolescents experience hospitalization meaning psychiatry

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References

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Adolescent Perceptions of Meaningfulness of Psychiatric Hospitalization

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