The Impact Of Mental Health Education On The Knowledge And Attitude Of The Peripheral Health Workers Of Dang
The Impact Of Mental Health Education
Keywords:
district mental health programme, health workers, mental health education, trainingAbstract
Background & Objective: Mental health needs of a society are ideally met by integration in primary care. Under the District Mental Health programme, Surat is the nodal centre for Dang, a tribal region. In order to make medical care available to the patients in need, it was vital to train the peripheral health workers of the region. The aim was to provide mental health education to the peripheral health workers of Dang and assess its impact on their knowledge and attitude regarding mental health issues. Methodology: 150 peripheral health workers were posted in the Department of Psychiatry in batches of 20-30 each for a 7-day, extensive, in-house training. The improvement in knowledge and attitude was assessed by a pre-post semi-structured questionnaire and structured feedback. Results: The training resulted in a significant improvement in scores related to clarification of myths. The knowledge and attitude related to mental health issues improved significantly and the participants reported that they were sensitized by the training and would identify and refer patients to the visiting psychiatrist. Conclusion: The training in mental health could bring about improvement in the knowledge and attitude of the peripheral health workers. However, to what extent does this change reflect in actual practice, needs to be ascertained. [Shah N. D NJIRM 2015; 6(6):6-10]
References
2. World Health Organisation. Integrating mental health into primary care. A global perspective. Available from http://www.who.int/mental_health/resources/mentalhealth_PHC_2008.pdf. Last accessed October 27, 2015.
3. Government of India. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. National Mental Health Programme. Available from http://mohfw.nic.in/WriteReadData/l892s/9903463892NMHP%20detail.pdf. Last accessed October 27, 2015.
4. World Health Organisation. WHO-AIMS report on Mental Health system in Gujarat. Availabe from http://www.who.int/mental_health/gujarat_who_aims_report.pdf. Last accessed October 27, 2015.
5. Venkatesh BT, Andrews T, Mayya SS, Singh MM, Parsekar SS. Perception of stigma toward mental illness in South India. J Family Med Prim Care 2015 Jul-Sep;4(3):449-53.
6. Jadhav S, Littlewood R, Ryder AG, Chakraborty A, Jain S, Barua M. Stigmatization of severe mental illness in India: Against the simple industrialization hypothesis. Indian J Psychiatry 2007 Jul;49(3):189-94.
7. Dharitri R, Rao SN, Kalyanasundaram S. Stigma of mental illness: An interventional study to reduce
its impact in the community. Indian J Psychiatry 2015 Apr-Jun;57(2):165-73.
8. Corrigan PW, Druss BG, Perlick DA. The Impact of Mental Illness Stigma on Seeking and Participating in Mental Health Care. Psychol Sci Public Interest 2014 Oct;15(2):37-70.
9. Gibson A, Kuluski K, Lyons R. Complex health conditions and mental health training: How prepared is the frontline service provider? Healthc Manage Forum 2015 Jan;28(1):16-23.
10. Heath O, Church E, Curran V et al. Interprofessional mental health training in rural primary care: findings from a mixed methods study. J Interprof Care 2015 May;29(3):195-201.
11. Brunero S, Jeon YH, Foster K. Mental health education programmes for generalist health professionals: an integrative review. Int J Ment Health Nurs 2012 Oct;21(5):428-44.
12. Paudel S, Gilles N, Hahn S et al. Impact of mental health training on village health workers regarding clinical depression in rural India. Community Ment Health J 2014 May;50(4):480-6.
13. Armstrong G, Kermode M, Raja S, Suja S, Chandra P, Jorm AF. A mental health training program for community health workers in India: impact on knowledge and attitudes. Int J Ment Health Syst 2011 Aug 5;5(1):17.
14. Li J, Li J, Huang Y, Thornicroft G. Mental health training programme for community health staff in Guangzhou, China: effects on knowledge of mental illness and stigma. Int J Ment Health Syst 2014 Dec 4;8(1):49.
15. Goncalves DA, Fortes S, Campos M et al. Evaluation of a mental health training intervention for multidisciplinary teams in primary care in Brazil: a pre- and posttest study. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 2013 May-Jun;35(3):304-8.
