Mediation as Therapeutic Resolution for Conflicts about Patient Health and Care

This article shows how mediation can be a form of ‘therapeutic resolution’ in adult health and care disputes. These are typically disputes that arise under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 about an adult's best interests but also include complaints about adult health and care provision. Through novel empirical research, the article develops our understanding and application of a new concept of ‘therapeutic resolution’, applied to health and care mediation. In drawing on conceptual work on law's therapeutic and anti‐therapeutic potential, I argue that mediation can achieve therapeutic resolution by resolving health and care conflict in ways that have therapeutic effects, achieving creative resolution(s), supporting therapeutic outcomes for participants, and focusing on what can be achieved rather than framing conflict through the prism of the law. This research also contributes to showing which features of mediation indicate its therapeutic potential, specifically arguing that the following features ought to be promoted in mediation design: it should be flexible, participatory, less adversarial, voluntary and collaborative. The value in framing mediation as therapeutic resolution is that it enables mediators, lawyers and others designing mediation (and other conflict reduction) processes to be attentive to the ways in which therapeutic effects and resolution(s) can be achieved

Conflict resolution · Framing (construction) · Health care · Mediation · Mental health · Party-directed mediation · Therapeutic relationship · Conflict Management and Negotiation · Healthcare Decision-Making and Restraints · Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues