title: Establishing female-only areas in psychiatry wards to improve safety and quality of care for women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to assess the impact of creating a female-only area within a mixed-gender inpatient psychiatry service, on female patient safety and experience of care.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Alfred hospital reconfigured one of its two psychiatry wards to include a female-only area. Documented incidents compromising the safety of women on each ward in the 6 months following the refurbishment were compared. Further, a questionnaire assessing perceived safety and experience of care was administered to female inpatients on both wards, and staff feedback was also obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The occurrence of documented incidents compromising females' safety was found to be significantly lower on the ward containing a female-only area. Women staying on this ward rated their perceived safety and experience of care significantly more positively than women staying where no such gender segregation was available. Further, the female-only area was identified by the majority of surveyed staff to provide a safer environment for female patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Establishing female-only areas in psychiatry wards is an effective way to improve the safety and experience of care for female patients.
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia jayashri.kulkarni@monash.edu.
authors.forename: Jayashri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kulkarni
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Emmy
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gavrilidis
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Tamsyn E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Van Rheenen
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Jasmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grigg
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seeary
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Shelley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Rosie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Worsley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keppich-Arnold
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stafrace
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: female-only; gender safety; gender-segregated model; mixed-gender; ward safety