Eva Kowalinski

• Medical Doctor at Universitäre Psychiatrische Kliniken Basel

Background Food plays a dual role in promoting human health and environmental sustainability. Yet, current food systems jeopardize both. Food waste poses a major global challenge due to its significant economic, social, and environmental impacts. Healthcare facilities generate the largest amounts of food waste compared to other forms of catering pr...

Über das eigene Lebensende autonom bestimmen zu können, ist der Wunsch vieler Menschen. Höchste Gerichte in Deutschland und Österreich erkennen das Recht auf assistierten Suizid als eine Form des selbstbestimmten Sterbens an. In der Schweiz tragen Sterbehilfeorganisationen zu einer breiteren Akzeptanz bei. Wie aber ist die Suizidhilfe ethisch zu re...

Ultima Ratio: Zwangsmassnahmen befinden sich im Spannungsfeld zwischen ärztlicher Fürsorgepflicht und dem Recht auf Freiheit und Selbstbestimmung. Hierbei gelten Zwangsmassnahmen in der psychiatrischen Behandlung als Mittel der letzten Wahl, welche nur in Notfallsituationen zur Anwendung kommen. Ein Überblick zum Einsatz von Zwangsmassnahmen in der...

Dernier recours: Les mesures de contrainte se trouvent à la croisée des chemins entre le devoir d'assistance du médecin et le droit à la liberté et à l'autodétermination. Dans ce contexte, les mesures de contrainte dans le traitement psychiatrique sont considérées comme un moyen de dernier recours, qui n'est utilisé que dans des situations d'urgenc...

Background Article 115 of the Swiss Penal Code (StGB) permits physician-assisted dying (PAD), provided it is not performed for “selfish reasons,” and thus, occupies a special role in international comparison. However, the Swiss federal law does not regulate who exactly is entitled to access PAD, and there is no universal agreement in the concerned...

In 2018, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMW) published a new guideline on physician-assisted dying (PAD). In line with the SAMW guideline published in 2004, the patients’ ability to judge, their self-determination, careful consideration and permanence of their wish to die as well as the lack of therapeutic options were set as necessary con...

Background: Health services research is of increasing importance in current psychiatry. Therefore, large datasets and aggregation of data generated by electronic routine documentation due to legal, financial, or administrative purposes play an important role. However, paper-based routine documentation is still of interest. It remains relevant in le...

Background Coercive measures in psychiatry have well-known negative consequences for the patients and their treatment. They are considered ethically problematic and must only be used as a last resort. Locked wards may promote a threatening atmosphere leading to more aggression and a subsequent higher use of coercive measures. The aim of this was to...

Aggressive behavior and violence in psychiatric patients have often been quoted to justify more restrictive settings in psychiatric facilities. However, the effects of open vs. locked door policies on aggressive incidents remain unclear. This study had a naturalistic observational design and analyzed the occurrence of aggressive behavior as well as...

We are convinced that advancing the least restrictive approaches without endangering our patients and the general population is a crucial goal of psychiatry. We thank Thomas Pollmächer and Tilman Steinert for stimulating the discussion of our publication on suicide risk and absconding in hospitals without locked door policies.

Background: Inpatient suicide and absconding of inpatients at risk of self-endangering behaviour are important challenges for all medical disciplines, particularly psychiatry. Patients at risk are often admitted to locked wards in psychiatric hospitals to prevent absconding, suicide attempts, and death by suicide. However, there is insufficient ev...