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Article
Publication date: 24 June 2019

J. Konadu Fokuo, Mary M. Maroney and Patrick Corrigan

Nurses and nursing students often hold stigmatizing attitudes toward patients with mental illness, contributing to poor health outcomes. To address this, direct contact with…

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Abstract

Purpose

Nurses and nursing students often hold stigmatizing attitudes toward patients with mental illness, contributing to poor health outcomes. To address this, direct contact with persons with lived experience in mental illness (i.e. consumers) has been integrated into training curricula. This has shown decreased negative attitudes and increased empathy, but gains are not typically maintained at follow-up. The purpose of this paper is to explore acceptability (i.e. feasibility, process and fidelity) and stigmatizing attitudes of nursing students after the completion of a mentor-based direct-contact curriculum to decrease stigmatizing attitudes toward persons with mental illness.

Design/methodology/approach

A five-week manualized contact-based mentorship program, with a mentor (i.e. consumer)–mentee (i.e. student) pairs implemented as a supplement to the clinical curriculum for 23 baccalaureate-nursing students. Feasibility (i.e. attendance), acceptability, fidelity and stigmatizing attitudes were evaluated. The Error Choice Test and the Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-9) were used to assess stigmatizing attitudes.

Findings

Feasibility was 100 percent for face-to-face meetings and participants were satisfied with the integration of the program into their curriculum, indicating high acceptability. A repeated measures ANOVA yielded significant findings for stigmatizing attitudes (F (2, 21)=6.96, p<0.02, η2=0.23). This suggests that a consumer-led mentoring program may reduce mental health stigma within student-nursing populations. The AQ-9 did not yield significant results.

Research limitations/implications

This study lacked a comparison group. Future research should include a randomized controlled trial.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates capacity for high feasibility and acceptability for an anti-stigma curriculum in this educational context.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

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Article
Publication date: 11 August 2021

Tara Walker

This study aims to examine how experience with mental illness influences perceptions of stigma and realism in a specific direct-to-consumer advertisement (DTCA) for bipolar…

218

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine how experience with mental illness influences perceptions of stigma and realism in a specific direct-to-consumer advertisement (DTCA) for bipolar depression.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey had participants watch a 90 s advertisement for a prescription bipolar depression drug and then answer 24 questions about stigma, mental illness experience and the realism of the portrayals in the advertisement.

Findings

Findings show that people who identify as having experience with mental illness tend to see the ad as more stigmatizing and less realistic. Additionally, people who expressed more stigmatizing beliefs also tended to see more stigma present in the ad. Finally, the study reconfirms conclusions of previous research that people who have experience with mental health conditions possess fewer stigmatizing beliefs overall regarding mental illness.

Research limitations/implications

The sample population, while diverse in age and somewhat diverse in location, were highly educated, suggesting that they were not representative of the general population. Future studies may want to use more representative samples. A more nuanced approach to understanding experience is needed. While the sample in this study was purposively derived from communities with a higher rate of mental illness, a comprehensive experience scale to measure degrees of experience with mental illness would enhance understanding of this construct. Researchers may also want to look more deeply into the emotional responses of consumers who view these ads. To develop a greater understanding of the trajectory of DTCA, studies of online advertising for psychiatric drugs are needed.

Practical implications

The results of the study suggest that respondents with experience with mental illness may find ads that sell psychiatric medications unrealistic. This study presents the topic of realism in DTCA as an important construct for determining how consumers may perceive portrayals of disorders.

Social implications

The fact that people who have experience with mental illness found the Latuda ad to be generally unrealistic suggests that DTCA may be failing to represent mental illness in a way that demonstrates care for patients. Additionally, this research confirms that people who have had exposure to and experience with mental illness tend to hold less stigmatizing beliefs, (Link and Cullen, 1986; Corrigan et al., 2001; Angermeyer et al., 2004) a finding which supports the continuing project of increasing mental health literacy and awareness in the general population.

Originality/value

This study investigates the reactions of people who identify as having some experience with mental illness to see if they accept the portrayals of mental illness in DTCA or resist them by challenging their realism or identifying stigmatizing elements.

Details

International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6123

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