Neurodivergent Patients in Forensic Mental Health Wards: Practice Pointers From a Scoping Study

This scoping study aims to identify patient‐centered care recommendations for neurodivergent forensic mental health in‐patients. The offending neurodivergent population is currently understudied and over‐represented in forensic mental health services. This is causing individuals to receive inadequate care and increasing staff harm. To address this problem, a scoping study of existing literature has been conducted using the review question: What are the current recommendations being made to improve the care of neurodivergent patients admitted to in‐patient forensic mental health wards, and are the recommendations being made with a patient‐centered care approach? The scoping study results found 810 publications after duplicates were removed, which were then refined down to 35 eligible publications. The eligible publications were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, and five themes were identified: (1) environmental factors, (2) care factors, (3) de‐institutionalization, (4) cultural factors, and (5) staff improvement. The themes were then defined and expanded upon and the identified recommendations were found to be made using a strengths‐based approach to understanding neuro‐disability and clinical conditions and aimed to center patients neurodivergent needs in pre‐established clinical practice.