FOSTREN: Fostering and Strengthening Approaches to Reducing Coercion in European Mental Health Services

FOSTREN is a COST-funded Action set up to establish a sustainable, multidisciplinary network of researchers and innovators who are committed to improving understanding on how to reduce coercion in mental health services.

More information on COST Actions is available here: https://www.cost.eu/cost-actions/what-are-cost-actions/

Many people receiving mental health care are subjected to coercive practices such as outpatient commitment in the community and physical restraint in hospital. These practices can violate human rights and there is a growing international policy momentum to move mental health services away from using them as soon as possible.

Successful initiatives to bring about this transformational change require sustained multilevel interventions which are informed by the latest findings in implementation science so the can be effectively embedded in practice in the long term.

Good clinical practice in this area is patchy across Europe, research on effectiveness is fragmented and understanding of the barriers and facilitators for real-world service transformation is limited.

Service users, practitioners, health service managers, educators, researchers, and policy makers have a range of perspectives on these issues but all have a contribution to make in bringing change about.

Our aim in FOSTREN therefore is to exchange international expertise from all these stakeholder groups in order to create an integrated framework for effective implementation.

For more information on the FOSTREN network, please contact us via our contact page.