Medical Staff and Hospitalized Patient's Attitude in Selected Psychiatric Hospitals in Tehran about Adaptation of Patients Rights Charter of Patients with Mental Disorder

To address the weaknesses and shortcomings of the mentally disordered patients’ charter and presenting suggestions for its improvement, the opinions of doctors, nurses and inpatients about the necessity and feasibility of patients’ charter were sought. The study was a cross-sectional survey carried out on 71 doctors, 97 nurses, and 105 inpatients in Roozbeh, Iran, Imam Hossein and Rasoul hospitals. Data were gathered through a self-performed questionnaire which was collected from Patients Rights Charter (Ministry of Health and Medical Education), the proposed patients’ rights cases and mental health care law (World Health Organization1382). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis test. All three groups agreed with “the possibility of treatment withdrawal by patients against the medical team’s advice” and the “possibility of leaving the hospital against medical advice”. The three groups agreed upon keeping patients against their will in instances when the patient “poses a threat to others”, “is not able to take care of his/her personal needs and his/her health is endangered” or “has attempted suicide”. Patients disagreed with physical constraint of the patient and using physical force in treatment. The present Patients’ Rights Charter in Iran cannot totally cover the needs of mentally ill patients.