Involuntary hospitalisation as an essential part of regional mental health care reporting Testing a regional monitoring tool in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

The documentation of involuntary hospitalisation in psychiatric facilities according to regional or federal mental health law is not sufficiently differentiated in Germany and varies from region to region. As part of the BMG-funded ZIPHER study, an easy-to-use monitoring tool for the complete recording of regional applications for involuntary hospitalisation at the local courts according to 1906 BGB and PsychKG was tested in two districts of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania over a six-month period in 2018. The evaluation of the 284 applications showed significant differences between the survey regions in the distribution of diagnostic groups and in the outcome of the application. Overall, a systematic monitoring of detention procedures at the municipal level can be recommended, firstly for internal and cross-regional discussion and subsequently for the regional implementation of measures to reduce and avoid coercion.