Abstract
BackgroundThe role and demands of studying nursing and medicine involve specific stressors that may contribute to an increased risk for mental health problems. Stigma is a barrier to help-seeking for mental health problems in nursing and medical students, making these students vulnerable to negative outcomes including higher failure rates and discontinuation of study. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a potential intervention to increase the likelihood that medical and nursing students will support their peers to seek help for mental health problems. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a tailored MHFA course for nursing and medical students.MethodsNursing and medical students self-selected into either a face-to-face or online tailored MHFA course. Four hundred and thirty-four nursing and medical students completed pre- and post-course surveys measuring mental health first aid intentions, mental health literacy, confidence in providing help, stigmatising attitudes and satisfaction with the course.ResultsThe results of the study showed that both the online and face-to-face courses improved the quality of first aid intentions towards a person experiencing depression, and increased mental health literacy and confidence in providing help. The training also decreased stigmatizing attitudes and desire for social distance from a person with depression.ConclusionBoth online and face-to-face tailored MHFA courses have the potential to improve outcomes for students with mental health problems, and may benefit the students in their future professional careers.
Highlights
The role and demands of studying nursing and medicine involve specific stressors that may contribute to an increased risk for mental health problems
The mental health of medical students and doctors in Australia is an ongoing concern within the medical profession and community (Elliot et al 2010; Schlicht et al 1990)
A literature review of 76 studies from the medical, nursing and dental literature on the effectiveness of online learning found similar results to the metaanalyses (Chumley-Jones et al 2002). The aims of this project were to investigate the impact of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training for nursing and medical students on (1) mental health first aid intentions, (2) mental health literacy, (3) confidence in providing help, (4) stigmatising attitudes and (5) satisfaction with the course
Summary
The role and demands of studying nursing and medicine involve specific stressors that may contribute to an increased risk for mental health problems. Stigma is a barrier to help-seeking for mental health problems in nursing and medical students, making these students vulnerable to negative outcomes including higher failure rates and discontinuation of study. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a potential intervention to increase the likelihood that medical and nursing students will support their peers to seek help for mental health problems. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a tailored MHFA course for nursing and medical students. The role and demands of studying nursing and medicine involve specific stressors that may further increase this distress as students progress through their courses. A number of studies have investigated mental health problems in nursing and medical students. While medical students have similar psychological wellbeing to the general student population before embarking on their studies (Rossal et al 1997; Carson et al 2000; Singh et al 2004), international and Australian
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