Changing Nursing Student Attitudes to Consumer Participation in Mental Health Services: A Survey Study of Traditional and Lived Experience-led Education

Abstract

Mental health policy emphasises the importance of consumer participation in mental health services. To align education with policy and orient future healthcare services to active consumer involvement, the potential of academics with a lived experience of mental illness to impact on student attitudes towards consumer participation needs to be examined. A cohort comparative study was undertaken comparing attitudinal change between undergraduate nursing students undertaking two different mental health courses, one nurse-led (n = 61) and one lived experience-led. Attitudes were measured through the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire. Within-cohort change was assessed via dependent sample t-tests, and degree of change was observed in each cohort, by comparing effect sizes. For the nurse-led course, attitudes on consumer involvement t (60) = -1.79, p < 0.005 (95% CI: -2.84, -0.74) and consumer as staff t (60) = -4.12, p < 0.005 (95% CI: -3.34, -1.16), positively changed with effect size r of 0.40 and 0.47, respectively. For the lived experience-led course, attitudes on consumer capacity t (109) = -3.63, p < 0.005 (95% CI: -0.48, -1.41) and consumer as staff, t (109) = -5.63, p < 0.005 (95% CI: -0.97, -0.46), positively changed, effect size r of 0.33 and 0.47, respectively. Mental health nursing education has a positive and selective influence on attitudes to consumer participation. Lived experience-led education was more beneficial in changing attitudes to consumer capacity and both types of education had similar positive effects on attitudes to consumers as staff.

‘It is meant to be heart rather than head’; International perspectives of teaching from lived experience in mental health nursing programs

“…The literature focuses primarily on student perspectives and outcomes (Byrne et al . , ; Happell et al . ; Stacey & Pearson ) and is restricted to one educational setting.…”

Attitudes toward consumer involvement in mental health services: A cross-sectional survey of Indian medical and nursing undergraduates

“…These findings were dissimilar to a study that was conducted among nursing students showed merely 19.8% of the participants agreed to this item. 17 Similarly, 40.9% of the participants opined that persons with mental illness can't handle too much responsibility. These findings reflect a recent study from India among nursing students.…”

“…However, both types (Mental health nursing education and Lived experienceled education) had similar positive effects on attitudes to consumers as staff. 17 However, satisfaction with consumer involvement in mental health education of nurses 29 and other health professionals 29 have been well documented. In the present study, medical students showed better attitudes than nursing in consumer capacity (t-9.133, p<0.001), consumer as staff (t=2.924, p<0.001) domains.…”

Very useful, but do carefully: Mental health researcher views on establishing a Mental Health Expert Consumer Researcher Group

“…Acknowledgement of the impact of negative attitudes of health professionals to working collegially with consumers and the systemic barriers to collaboration led to the introduction of an academic position for mental health consumer in an Australian School of Nursing (Happell & Roper, , ). This and subsequent positions demonstrated more positive attitudes of nursing students towards people diagnosed with mental illness and the mental health field more broadly (Byrne et al, ; Happell, Pinikahana, & Roper, ; Happell, Platania‐Phung, et al, ).…”