Shields discusses inpatient psychiatric care on Global Health Pursuit Podcast  

Morgan Shields, an assistant professor at the Brown School, recently appeared on the Global Health Pursuit Podcast to discuss the challenges of inpatient psychiatric care and the complexities of crisis mental health treatment in the United States. 

As one of the few researchers focused on the quality of inpatient psychiatric care, Shields sheds light on critical gaps in the field. In the first of a two-part episode, she highlights the lack of research on care quality and explains how psychiatric treatment can sometimes be untherapeutic—or even harmful and traumatizing—for patients. She also shares how her experiences have shaped her research, which centers on patient-centered care and accountability in mental health treatment. 

Shields is particularly interested in two key questions: 

• How can we effectively align incentives and motivation to support compassionate and dignified mental healthcare?  

• How might trust in crisis mental healthcare be best measured and used in quality improvement and accountability efforts? 

The second episode explores the polarizing debate surrounding inpatient psychiatric care reform. Shields notes that inpatient care is often viewed as a last resort for individuals experiencing severe mental health crises, yet the quality of care remains inconsistent and, at times, can worsen the very issues it aims to resolve. 

Shields describes the field as divided between two positions: one side advocating for more inpatient psych beds to improve access to care, and the other calling for the abolition of psychiatric hospitals in favor of community-based services. This ideological divide, she explains, has stalled efforts to improve care quality through accountability and data-driven reforms. However, Shields agrees figuring out how to scale up alternative (non-hospital) crisis services, such as peer respites, is needed.

“Expanding alternatives is better aligned with the evidence and key human rights principles than expansion of inpatient psychiatric care beds. However, I am concerned that without pressure on our system to improve quality and accountability of existing inpatient psychiatric services, many people will continue to experience betrayal by the services intended to help them,” Shields said.  

Listen to the full conversation on the Global Health Pursuit podcast. 

Episode 1: Inpatient Psychiatric Care Exposed: Are We Healing Or Hurting Patients? w/ Dr. Morgan Shields 

Episode 2: Inpatient Psychiatric Care Exposed: The Polarizing Views for Reform w/ Dr. Morgan Shields