Mental health knowledge and attitudes in a transition year student group: a pilot survey

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Beirne ◽  
N. Mohungoo ◽  
S. Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Health Knowledge And Attitudes

IntroductionStigma towards mental health disorders remains a significant problem in society. Numerous public awareness campaigns and, to a lesser extent, educational interventions have been carried out to date to help address this issue.MethodA brief questionnaire was formulated and administered to two small groups of transition year students from schools throughout Ireland who participated in a week-long placement in a Psychiatric Hospital in Dublin in 2012. The input was from psychiatry and allied health professionals covering a wide range of mental health topics. It was administered before the first session and immediately after the last session. The input for each group in terms of topics was almost identical.ResultsIn all, 24 students participated, and the majority had either gone to school with, had observed in passing, or had a friend of the family or a relative with a mental illness, although only 21% had had knowledge on mental illness up to the intervention. The post-intervention scores demonstrated that the week had an impact on most of these views. Their attitudes to individuals with mental illness as regards employment, treatment, assistance, and recovery were encouraging, even at baseline, and all their responses improved following the sessions. There was a view that those with mental illness were somewhat reluctant to seek professional help.ConclusionsAlthough the results of this study are very encouraging as regards attitudes towards mental health and their response to education, far more research and interventions are needed to explore and address stigma in more detail.

Mental health literacy of the Lebanese population (MHeLLP): a cross-sectional study

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rim Taleb ◽  
Nayla Kassab ◽  
Asmaa Kebbe ◽  
Nour Kreidieh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Mental Health Literacy ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Lebanese Population

Purpose This study primarily aims to evaluate the mental health literacy (MHL) of the Lebanese adult population in an attempt to yield results that can help fill the gap in the literature and support the development of new strategies to counter mental health stigma. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was composed of the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule and select questions from the Community Attitudes toward the Mentally Ill and MHL Scale. The surveys were collected from a representative population of sample size (n = 386) among the different governorates of Lebanon. The participants, aged 18–65 years and literate, were recruited between July 2018 and September 2018 from supermarkets widely distributed across the country. Findings The results showed that the Lebanese population possesses average knowledge and certain stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illnesses. Curricular education and awareness campaigns may help refine the image of mental illness among the population. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is one of the first in Lebanon to assess the MHL of its population as a whole. It gives insight into the common misconceptions about mental illness and patterns of the related stigma that are prevalent in the Lebanese society today.

scholarly journals Time Waits for No One: Longitudinal Study on the Effects of an Anti-Stigma Seminar on the Psychology Student Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5441
Author(s):  
Luca Pingani ◽  
Sara Evans-Lacko ◽  
Sandra Coriani ◽  
Silvia Ferrari ◽  
Maria Filosa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Student Population ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
T1 And T2 ◽  
One Year ◽  
Intended Behaviour

The primary aim is to describe the changes in the knowledge of mental health conditions, the attitudes toward the mentally ill, and the intended behaviour towards people with mental illness among the entire student population of the third year of a degree course in Psychology. A total of 570 students attended a seminar on stigma towards mental illness and were invited to complete an online survey which collected data on sociodemographic characteristics and three validated questionnaires evaluating different aspects of stigma at three different time points (pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at one year follow up). A total of 253 students (44.39%) completed the questionnaires at t0, t1, and t2. The mean age of the sample was 23.7 (SD = ±5.89), and 86.96% (n = 220) were females. Between t0 and t1, a statistically significant improvement was observed for all three outcomes, while the intended behaviour outcome was no longer significant between t1 and t2 (Z = −0.70; p = 0.48). Females and who participated live at the seminar maintained a significant knowledge of mental illness and a better attitude toward community mental health care. The effects of the seminar focused on reducing stigma tended to diminish over time at one year follow-up, particular in relation to intended behaviour.

Cultural competence in multi-family psychoeducation groups: The experiences of Russian-speaking immigrant mothers of adults with severe mental illness

2021 ◽  
pp. 136346152110583
Author(s):  
Evgeny Knaifel
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Cultural Competence ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Family Psychoeducation ◽  
Family Coping ◽  
Immigrant Mothers

The successful integration of cultural competence with evidence-based practices in mental health services is still limited for particular cultural populations. The current study explored culturally adapted family psychoeducation intervention for immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israel who care for a family member with severe mental illness (SMI). Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 immigrant mothers about their experience of taking part in Russian-speaking multi-family psychoeducation groups (MFPGs). Qualitative content analysis revealed five salient processes and changes that participants attributed to their engagement in the intervention: 1) from a language barrier to utilization of and satisfaction with services; 2) from a lack of information to acquiring new mental health knowledge; 3) from harboring a family secret to exposure and sharing; 4) from social isolation to cultural belonging and support; 5) from families blurring boundaries to physical and emotional separation. The results showed that these changes—linguistic, cognitive, emotional, socio-cultural and relational—improved family coping and recovery. Implications for cultural adaptation of family psychoeducation for Russian-speaking immigrants are discussed.

Relationship between Opinions about Mental Illness and Mental Health Knowledge among Psychiatric Aides

1977 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret W. Pryer ◽  
M. K. Distefano
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Hospital ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Test ◽  
Opinions About Mental Illness ◽  
Mental Health Knowledge

The Opinions About Mental Illness Scale and a job-related mental health knowledge test were administered to 61 psychiatric aides in a mental hospital. Scores on the knowledge test were significantly correlated with four favorable attitudes. Correlations between subtest scores on the knowledge test and various attitude factors suggested possible differential relationships between certain types of mental health knowledge and specific attitudes.

scholarly journals Resilience and associative stigma among mental health professionals in a tertiary psychiatric hospital: a cross-sectional study in Singapore

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. e033762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherilyn Chang ◽  
Louisa Picco ◽  
Edimansyah Abdin ◽  
Qi Yuan ◽  
Siow Ann Chong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Close Friend ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Associative Stigma

ObjectivesThe mental health profession exposes healthcare workers to unique stressors such as associative stigma (stigmatisation that is extended from the stigmatised patients to psychiatric professionals and is based on affiliation with an individual with mental illness). Enhancing resilience, or the ability to ‘bounce back’ from adversity, is found to be useful in reducing occupational stress and its negative effects. In view of the high burnout rates reported among mental health professionals, this study aimed to examine resilience in this group of professionals and to explore the association between resilience and associative stigma.DesignObservational study—cross-sectional design.SettingTertiary psychiatry hospital in Singapore.ParticipantsThe study was conducted among 470 mental health professionals (doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) working in the hospital.MeasuresResilience was assessed using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and participants completed questionnaires that examined associative stigma. Participants provided their sociodemographic information, length of service, and information on whether they knew of a close friend or family member who had a mental illness.ResultsMean resilience score for the overall sample was 3.59 (SD=0.64). Older age (β=0.012, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.019, p=0.003) and having known a family member or close friend with a mental illness (β=0.155, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.290, p=0.025) predicted higher BRS score. Associative stigma remained significantly associated with resilience score after controlling for sociodemographic factors whereby higher associative stigma predicted lower resilience scores.ConclusionThe present finding suggests that resilience building programmes among mental health workers should target those of the younger age group, and that addressing the issue of associative stigma is essential.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Alisoun Milne
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Life Itself ◽  
Life Course Analysis

Despite much emphasis on mental illness in later life, limited work has focused on mental health. This book aims to address this deficit by exploring, and explaining, mental health outcomes in later life through the lens of critical social gerontology and via the conduit of life course analysis. It adopts an approach underpinned by a commitment to understanding, and making visible, the role of lifecourse, and age related inequalities in creating or amplifying risks to mental health, as well as exploring those issues that afford protection. It aims to offer a critical review of existing discourse and disrupt the ‘taken for granted’ paradigm, including in the dementia arena. This approach not only recognises that mental health in later life is a complex multi-dimensional issue that cuts across time, cohort, social categories and individual experiences but that it is affected by a wide range of lifecourse and age related issues. It also encourages the development of understanding that adopts a wide lens of analysis and of policy and service related responses that reduce risks to mental health during the lifecourse and in later life itself. Further, it engages with the potential to learn from older people’s perspectives and lives.

scholarly journals Exploring the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavioural Responses of Healthcare Students towards Mental Illnesses—A Qualitative Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor Riffel ◽  
Shu-Ping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Behavioural Responses

Background: The stigma of mental illness causes delays in seeking help, and often compromises victims’ therapeutic relationships with healthcare providers. The knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural responses of future healthcare professionals toward individuals with mental illnesses are explored here to suggest steps that will reduce mental illness stigma in healthcare providers. Methods: A generic qualitative approach—Qualitative Description—was used. Eighteen students from nine healthcare programs at a Canadian University participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Participants answered questions regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural responses towards individuals with mental illnesses. Thematic content analysis guided the data analysis. Results: Four main themes were constructed from the data: positive and negative general perceptions toward mental illness; contact experiences with mental illnesses; mental illness in a healthcare setting; and learning about mental illness in healthcare academia. Conclusions: Students showed well-rounded mental health knowledge and mostly positive behaviours toward individuals with mental illnesses. However, some students hold stigmatizing attitudes and do not feel prepared through their academic experiences to work with individuals with mental illnesses. Mental health education can reduce the stigma toward mental illness and improve the care delivered by healthcare professionals.

scholarly journals Development of ReproKnow, a reproductive knowledge assessment for women with rheumatic diseases

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehret Birru Talabi ◽  
Megan E. B. Clowse ◽  
Susan J. Blalock ◽  
Galen Switzer ◽  
Lan Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Rheumatic Diseases ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
Educational Interventions ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Female Patients ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Reproductive Health Knowledge

Abstract Background The objective of this study was to develop an assessment tool, ReproKnow, to evaluate the reproductive health knowledge of women with a wide range of rheumatic diseases. Methods The 10-item multiple-choice questionnaire was developed with feedback from a panel of content experts and female patients with rheumatic diseases. Construct validity using known-groups analysis was evaluated through comparison of median total ReproKnow scores between rheumatology fellows and nurses. Female patients aged 18–50 years were recruited to take ReproKnow and demographic questionnaires in two outpatient clinics. Associations between patients’ mean total knowledge scores and demographic characteristics were assessed using independent-sample t-tests. Questions were also categorized by topical area, and the percentages were calculated. Results The completion rate of questions in ReproKnow was 100% across all users. Median ReproKnow scores were significantly higher among rheumatology fellows than among nurses (p = 0.045). The 153 patients recruited to the study had at least one of 15 rheumatic diseases. Patients’ mean knowledge score was 5.05 (SD 2.24) out of a possible high score of 10. Patients who were younger, White, and more educated had significantly higher scores than did other patients (p’s < 0.05). Patients who bore children after their disease diagnosis had higher knowledge scores than did women whose children were born prior to their diagnosis; in contrast, women with histories of surgical sterilization or hysterectomy had lower knowledge scores than other women. Knowledge scores of women who used potentially fetotoxic medications did not vary from the remainder of the sample. Patients demonstrated gaps in knowledge about birth outcomes, contraceptive efficacy, and breastfeeding safety. Conclusions Initial testing of ReproKnow suggests that it may be a promising tool to assess the reproductive health knowledge of women with diverse rheumatic diseases. Specific knowledge deficits elicited from ReproKnow may be important targets for future educational interventions.

Geoethics education: From theory to practice – a case study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pimnutcha Promduangsri ◽  
David Crookall
Keyword(s):  
Water Policy ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Earth Systems ◽  
Awareness Campaigns ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Wide Range

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Geoethics education: &amp;#160;From theory to practice &amp;#8211; a case study&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Pimnutcha Promduangsri (1, 2) and David Crookall (1)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;(1) Universit&amp;#233; C&amp;#244;te d&amp;#8217;Azur, Nice, France; &amp;#160;(2) M&amp;#233;diterran&amp;#233;e 2000, Cannes, France.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The planet Earth, and thus humanity, currently face such monumental geo-problems that geoethical behaviour by all citizens is a real imperative.&amp;#160; The problems are well known: global warming and climate change, pollution, sea-level rise, deforestation, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss and so on.&amp;#160; This situation requires that all citizens learn to behave in a geoethical fashion and in harmony with Earth&amp;#8217;s nature.&amp;#160; This in turn necessitates deployment on a massive scale of geoethical education, or what we call geo-edu-ethics &amp;#8211; &amp;#8216;edu&amp;#8217; is sandwiched between &amp;#8216;geo&amp;#8217; and &amp;#8216;ethics&amp;#8217;.&amp;#160; This is meant to suggest that in order to bring together &amp;#8216;geo&amp;#8217; and &amp;#8216;ethics&amp;#8217;, we need &amp;#8216;edu&amp;#8217;.&amp;#160; On another level, we also argue that it is manifestly and axiomatically unethical not to provide necessary geoethical knowledge in schools, universities and other training, in addition (and related) to the education already being dispensed.&amp;#160; Most ministries of education are thus failing their citizens in this regard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The principle and necessity of geo-edu-ethics have been successfully translated into hands-on practice by M&amp;#233;diterran&amp;#233;e 2000 (M2k), which celebrated its 30&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; anniversary last year.&amp;#160; This is a French association based in Cannes that accomplishes on-going, geo-edu-ethical, or geoethical educational, projects for a wide range of audiences.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Projects range from elementary school up to adult education, and include public awareness campaigns, school visits and trips, ethical tourism, local authority advice and industrial guidance on geoethical matters.&amp;#160; Such projects focus on the promotion of geoethical behaviour and decisions that influence the way humans interact with the Earth systems, especially in regard to waste, coastal areas, water, policy making, pollution, and so on.&amp;#160; The association has been successful in changing geoethical behaviours and attitudes among local people, for example, in regard to recycling, raw materials, flooding, pollution, reducing one&amp;#8217;s carbon footprint and energy use.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The presentation will (a) highlight the absolute necessity of providing geoethical education at all levels of society and in all subject areas of education, (b) outline the geoethical imperative for ordinary citizens (youth, parents, industry, etc.), (c) show how a dedicated and enthusiastic group of people can help citizens to move towards more ethical behavior as they interact with a range of Earth systems, and thus to participate in that geoethical imperative in everyday life.&lt;/p&gt;

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