Supporting voice hearers to explore and make meaning of their voice-hearing experiences can be helpful, but many mental health workers lack confidence or do not feel they have the skills required to do this. Although more is needed, some resources and training are available to assist workers in this area. To date, there are no suitable measures to evaluate the impact of these resources and training. Therefore, Supporting Voice Hearers Measure (SVHM) was developed. SVHM is a 23-item scale designed to evaluate mental health workers’ beliefs, attitudes, confidence and behaviours related to working with voice hearers.

To describe the development and testing of the SVHM.

Measurement properties explored included rating scale validity, unidimensionality, reliability, construct validity and person-fit statistics. Additionally, evaluations of concurrent validity, responsiveness and time taken to complete SVHM were completed.

A total of 548 completions of SVHM were included in the analysis. One item was interfering with measurement precision and was subsequently removed. The resultant 22-item measure demonstrated generally good measurement properties according to the quality criteria set. It demonstrated good concurrent reliability with confidence in working with voice hearers (r = 0.49, p < 0.001), strong responsiveness and evidence of feasibility, with a median time for completion of 3 min 39 s.

These results suggest that SVHM is a promising measure of mental health workers’ beliefs, attitudes, confidence and behaviours related to working with voice hearers. Future research should explore how changes in mental health workers’ beliefs, attitudes, confidence and behaviours impact the experiences and outcomes achieved by the voice hearers they are working with.

Long-term segregation (LTS) is used in mental health hospitals in England to manage individuals perceived to pose a sustained risk of harm to others. Increasing evidence indicates that LTS causes significant psychological and physical harm and may breach international human rights standards. The HOPE(S) programme (2022–2025) was introduced nationally to reduce, and ultimately end, the use of LTS for autistic people, individuals with learning disabilities and children and young people.

To explore the experiences of LTS from different perspectives and to examine its impact through a human rights lens.

Qualitative data were collected from 73 participants, including people with lived experience of LTS, family members, HOPE(S) practitioners, clinical staff, commissioners and regulators. Reflexive thematic analysis was conducted as part of a wider, mixed-methods evaluation of the HOPE(S) programme.

LTS was described by most participants as harmful, dehumanising and lacking in therapeutic value. Four interrelated themes emerged: (a) dehumanisation and erosion of personhood; (b) safeguarding and systemic failure; (c) psychological and relational harm; and (d) loss of hope and systemic inertia. These experiences reflected breaches of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

LTS is not a therapeutic intervention and is associated with profound psychological harm and human rights violations. Systemic reform and implementation of rights-based, trauma-informed alternatives, such as the HOPE(S) model, are urgently required to safeguard well-being and dignity in mental healthcare.