Unpacking the psychiatric advance directive in low-resource settings: an exploratory qualitative study in Tamil Nadu, India

Unpacking the psychiatric advance directive in low-resource settings: an exploratory qualitative study in Tamil Nadu, India

International Journal of Mental Health Systems, December 2013

24369909

Laura S Shields, Soumitra Pathare, Selina DM van Zelst, Sophie Dijkkamp, Lakshmi Narasimhan, Joske GF Bunders

Psychiatric advance directives, a tool to document preferences for care in advance of decisional incapacity, have been shown to benefit persons with mental illness in a number of countries through improving medication adherence, reducing symptoms from escalating in a crisis, accelerating recovery, and enhancing service user autonomy. While concepts such as autonomy are important in a number of high-income country settings, it remains unclear whether tools like psychiatric advance directives are suitable in a different context. The recent introduction of the psychiatric advance directive into draft legislation in India prompts the question as to how feasible psychiatric advance directives are in the Indian context. The aim of this study is to explore the feasibility and utility of PADs in India, with a focus on the need for individual control over decision making and barriers to implementation, by exploring views of its central stakeholders, service users and carers.