The Waiting Rooms Project

Synopsis

The Waiting Rooms Project is a research initiative run by the Converge Evaluation and Research Team (CERT) at York St John University. CERT are a team of researchers with lived experience of mental distress and mental health systems. In 2019, CERT were asked by mental health service users to set up a research project to better understand mental health waiting rooms and how they could be improved, an area they considered to be a high research priority. In the first phase of the project, CERT ran creative writing workshops with service users, generating poems about positive and negative waiting room experiences. Through the workshops, eight factors impacting waiting room experience were identified:

1) Welcoming, kind and respectful receptionist
2) Comfortable seating
3) Useful and effective distractions (music, radio, magazines, TV)
4) Sense of privacy and dignity
5) Pleasant, bright, clean and roomy space
6) Refreshments available
7) Easy access to the building, obvious signage
8) Knowing the waiting time, being kept informed

These factors were then used as the basis for a survey, inviting people with experience of mental health services to rank the factors in order of importance, resulting in a list of priorities for further research. In phase two of the project, we are currently exploring the perspective of NHS staff on the waiting rooms in their places of work. The ultimate aim of the work is to identify clear, actionable outcomes that could be used to improve waiting room experiences for service users and staff. In this presentation, CERT will offer an overview of the current findings from the waiting rooms project, sharing lived-experience perspectives on a frequently overlooked part of service provision. The presentation will also include demonstrations of activities based on CERT’s expertise in creative research methods, allowing attendees to explore their own experiences of waiting rooms.