Abstract
BackgroundThe context of the study is the increased assessment and treatment of persons with mental illness in general hospital settings by general health staff, as the move away from mental hospitals gathers pace in low and middle income countries. The purpose of the study was to examine whether general attitudes of hospital staff towards persons with mental illness, and extent of mental health training and clinical experience, are associated with different attitudes and behaviours towards a patient with mental illness than towards a patients with a general health problem - diabetes.MethodsGeneral hospital health professionals in Malaysia were randomly allocated one of two vignettes, one describing a patient with mental illness and the other a patient with diabetes, and invited to complete a questionnaire examining attitudes and health care practices in relation to the case. The questionnaires completed by respondents included questions on demographics, training in mental health, exposure in clinical practice to people with mental illness, attitudes and expected health care behaviour towards the patient in the vignette, and a general questionnaire exploring negative attitudes towards people with mental illness. Questionnaires with complete responses were received from 654 study participants.ResultsStigmatising attitudes towards persons with mental illness were common. Those responding to the mental illness vignette (N = 356) gave significantly lower ratings on care and support and higher ratings on avoidance and negative stereotype expectations compared with those responding the diabetes vignette (N = 298).ConclusionsResults support the view that, in the Malaysian setting, patients with mental illness may receive differential care from general hospital staff and that general stigmatising attitudes among professionals may influence their care practices. More direct measurement of clinician behaviours than able to be implemented through survey method is required to support these conclusions.
Highlights
The context of the study is the increased assessment and treatment of persons with mental illness in general hospital settings by general health staff, as the move away from mental hospitals gathers pace in low and middle income countries
The purpose of the study was to examine whether general attitudes of hospital staff towards persons with mental illness, and extent of mental health training and clinical experience, are associated with different attitudes and behaviours towards a patient with mental illness than towards a patients with a general health problem diabetes
Multivariate analysis of variance indicated no difference between groups overall (Wilks’ Lambda = .99, F(5, 648) = 1.37, ns) and univariate analyses indicated only slight trends for the diabetes group to have had received more mental health training (F(1, 652) = 3.04, p = .08) and to have worked longer within a mental health setting (F(1, 652) = 3.65, p = .06) than the mental illness group
Summary
The context of the study is the increased assessment and treatment of persons with mental illness in general hospital settings by general health staff, as the move away from mental hospitals gathers pace in low and middle income countries. There is a common assumption of a clear link between negative attitudes and discriminatory professional behaviours towards persons with mental illness [e.g., [27,28]]. The link between generally held attitudes by staff towards persons with mental illness and staff behaviours towards patients is not clear from such studies. Ellsworth [29] made a systematic attempt to explore this link directly by measuring patient reports of staff behaviour towards them and independently assessed attitudes of staff towards mentally ill patients. Staff who scored high on attitudes of restrictive control were more likely to be assessed by patients as insensitive, unfeeling, critical, domineering, and lacking trust in patients. Ellsworth interpreted apparent staff benevolence as a means of maintaining a comfortable interaction with patients rather than having a genuinely humane attitude towards them
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
