Australian exercise physiology student attitudes and knowledge towards people living with mental illness

Fibbins, Hamish; Ward, Philip B.; Stanton, Robert; Thom, Jeanette M.; Burdett, Amanda; Lederman, Oscar; Rosenbaum, Simon

doi:10.1108/jmhtep-01-2020-0006

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Overall scores and separate knowledge and attitude scores were obtained by summing the number of correct responses. Participants were categorised as having a "good" level of knowledge about mental health if their score was !50% (Chow et al, 2018;Fibbins et al, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian paramedic students’ mental health literacy and attitudes towards mental health

King

Rebar

Oliveri

et al. 2021

JMHTEP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose Australian paramedics regularly encounter patients experiencing mental illness. However, some paramedics hold negative attitudes towards the use of emergency services in providing care for these patients. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the mental health literacy (MHL) of Australian paramedic students, and the training and experiential factors associated with MHL. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional online survey was delivered to paramedic students across Australia. A total of 94 paramedic students completed the survey examining MHL, mental health first aid (MHFA) intentions, confidence in providing help, personal and perceived stigma and willingness to interact with a person experiencing mental illness. Findings Participants generally had poor MHFA intentions in spite of good recognition of mental health disorders and good knowledge about mental health. Participants also demonstrated low stigmatising attitudes towards mental illness; however, they expressed a lack of willingness to interact with a person experiencing mental illness. Originality/value Our findings propose a combination of work-based experience and specific MHFA training may be beneficial to paramedic students to improve care for patients experiencing mental illness.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Australian paramedic students’ mental health literacy and attitudes towards mental health

King

Rebar

Oliveri

et al. 2021

JMHTEP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With an increasing number of EPs and dietitians being embedded within multidisciplinary mental health-care teams, there is a need to ensure university programs are adequately preparing students to have the confidence to work with people with mental illness. A cross-sectional study of students completing their final year of an exercise physiology degree at a single university in Australia found that student knowledge of the treatment and lifestyle behaviours of people with mental illness was adequate: 68% of students scored 50% correct for knowledge questions (Fibbins et al, 2020), though the confidence levels remain unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Confidence levels of exercise physiology and dietetic students’ pre- and post-practicum within mental health facilities

Griffen

Lederman

Morell

et al. 2021

JMHTEP

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose This paper aims to examine student exercise physiologists (EPs) and student dietitians’ confidence regarding working with people with severe mental illness (SMI) pre- and post-practicum in a mental health service. Design/methodology/approach This single-arm, quality improvement project included students completing practicum within a lifestyle programme embedded in mental health services. Student EPs completed 100 h of practicum across 15 weeks as part requirement for their Bachelor of Exercise Physiology degree and student dietitians completed six weeks full-time (40 h/week) for the part requirement of their Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. Students completed the Dietetic Confidence Scale (terminology was adapted for student EPs) pre- and post-practicum. Findings In total, 27 student EPs and 13 student dietitians completed placement and returned pre- and post-practicum questionnaires. Pre-practicum confidence scores were 90.8 ± 17.1 and 86.9 ± 18.9 out of a possible 140 points for student EPs and student dietitians, respectively. Confidence scores increased substantially post-practicum for both student EPs [mean difference (MD) = 29.3 ± 18.8, p < 0.001, d = 1.56] and dietitian students (MD = 26.1 ± 15.9, p = 0.002, d = 1.64). There were significant improvements in confidence across all domains of the confidence questionnaire for both EPs and dietitian students. Originality/value There is a research gap in understanding the confidence levels of student EPs’ and student dietitians’ when working with people with mental illness and the impact that undertaking a practicum in a mental health setting may play. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore student EP and student dietitian confidence in working with people with SMI pre- and post-practicum in a mental health setting.

show abstract

Australian exercise physiology student attitudes and knowledge towards people living with mental illness

Cited by 2 publications

References 34 publications

Australian paramedic students’ mental health literacy and attitudes towards mental health

Australian paramedic students’ mental health literacy and attitudes towards mental health

Confidence levels of exercise physiology and dietetic students’ pre- and post-practicum within mental health facilities

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About