Improving quality of psychiatric care in Latvia by measuring patient experiences

In Latvia, as in many former Soviet Union countries, there used to be little priority given to systematic assessments of the quality of psychiatric care. Furthermore, using the experiences of patients as a measure of quality was unthinkable because psychiatric patients were seen as incapable of assessing quality of psychiatric services. Over the past few years, and facilitated by Latvia's progress along the route of Western democracy and participation in international organizations (EU, OECD), as well as funding support from the EU, several policy documents have been developed with the aim of improving healthcare quality. Simultaneously, several small-scale initiatives have emerged aiming at the promotion of quality of care, such as the quality award, and the quality comparison of psychiatric hospitals. Furthermore, the Psychiatric Inpatient Patient Experience Questionnaire for on-site measurement (PIPEQ-OS) has recently been adapted for use in Latvia. The first application of PIPEQ-OS in a psychiatric hospital in Riga reveals high patient responsiveness, interest and surprise about being asked to participate in the decision-making process regarding treatment and pharmaceutical choices. More widespread use of the PIPEQ-OS has considerable potential for (1) improving information about treatment shortcomings from the patients’ perspective and (2) improving the treatment process by opening doors of cooperation with patients and changing deep-rooted paradigms.