Meeting a service user with his or her family in acute care settings to discuss their thoughts, hopes and concerns provides important therapeutic benefits. It can help counter some of the potentially negative consequences of hospital admission for the service user and family. Because people usually enter hospital during a period of crisis, approaches that are flexible and responsive to the specific needs of each client and family are required.

To practise in this way, staff require access to training and continuing supervision that also needs to be delivered flexibly and responsively.