5. Selection of Case Records

Each Change Minds participant will require a Patient Case Record to work on during the project. A single case record will be picked from a pre-selected sample during Workshop 2. The selection of the Case Records should not be an onerous task. Digitization of a whole case book prior to selection is advised.

The Project Coordinator should select twice as many Patient Case Records as there are participants.

• Case records should include or be:
  • From a date between two accessible censuses.
  • Photograph(s) of patient (ideally).
  • Open to access, with an open census record available on either side of their admittance and discharge dates.
  • Patient discharged from hospital (recovered or relieved rather than transferred to another asylum).
  • Sufficient information on the patient which will assist the next stages of research (for example such things as age/date of birth, number of children, location or profession).
  • Male and female cases and a range of ages.
• Case records must not include:
  • Records of children or admissions reason related to the harm or violent death of children.
  • Descriptions of extreme violence committed by the patient on themselves or others.
  • Admissions due to sexual abuse.

In order to maintain the authenticity of the Change Minds experience, no further research on on the selected cases should be undertaken.