Schizophrenia Literacy Amongst Nursing Students And Nursing Staff: An Exploratory Study
Bhavesh M. Lakdwala, Ganpat Vankar, Bharat Navinchandra Panchal, Parag S. Shah · Indian Journal of Mental Health(IJMH) · 2016
Background: The term "mental health literacy" refers to knowledge and beliefs about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management or prevention.It is an important component of programs that aim to decrease the stigma of mental illness.The following study was aimed to assessing the levels of mental health literacy with respect to schizophrenia in nursing staff and nursing students.Methodology: 615 nursing students and 396 nursing staff were the study population.They were working in various medical colleges of Gujarat.Participants completed a pre-test questionnaire in vernacular language at the beginning of MHPC training program.A proforma comprised of demographic characteristics of participants, their confidence level to help psychiatric patients, own or family member's experience of psychiatric illness.Attitudes towards patients with schizophrenia were assessed on 4 point scale measuring social distance.The items were related to participant readiness to live in neighbourhood, to socialize, to make friendship, to work with and to get the patient married in the family of respondent.Participants' knowledge about causation, manifestations and treatment of schizophrenia was tested on 10 true/ false statements.Each correct response yielded score 1 hence the possible score range was 0-10.Results: Nursing students were more confident than nursing staff when it came to helping patients who were mentally ill.Knowledge levels about schizophrenia were similar between the two groups.Nursing students had a more positive attitude towards a patient with schizophrenia compared to nursing staff.A negative correlation between knowledge and attitude scores amongst the subjects was noted.There was no significant difference in opinions when respondents were compared on the basis of having and not having a member of their own family suffering from psychiatric illness.Conclusion: The paper serves as a baseline marker of schizophrenia literacy in nursing staff and nursing students across certain medical colleges in Gujarat.There is a need to implement a practical based psychiatric curriculum in nursing education to make future nurses aware about psychiatric illness and the methods of treatment available.This in turn would also increase awareness amongst the nursing staff and students.