Lived‐experience participation in nurse education: Reducing stigma and enhancing popularity

Abstract

Mental health nursing consistently emerges as less popular than other specialties, and both service users and mental health practitioners are affected by negative attitudes. Education is fundamental to attracting students to the field of mental health nursing. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of undergraduate mental health curricula on student attitudes to people with mental illness, and career interest in mental health nursing. A traditional mental health course was compared to a course delivered by a person with lived experience of mental illness (and mental health service use) for its impact on student attitudes and career intentions in mental health nursing (cohort 1: n = 70, cohort 2: n = 131, respectively). In both cohorts, attitudes were measured via self-report, before and after the course, and changes were investigated through within-subjects t-tests. The lived experience-led course demonstrated statistically-significant positive changes in intentions to pursue mental health nursing and a decrease in negative stereotypes, which were not observed in the traditional course. The valuable contribution of mental health nursing emerged in the traditional, but not lived-experience-led, programmes. These findings support the value of an academic with lived experience of mental health challenges in promoting attraction to mental health nursing as a career option.

Adaptação transcultural do instrumento “Nursing Students’ Attitudes Toward Mental Health Nursing and Consumers” no Brasil

“…The authors used the instrument with nursing and medicine students, identifying changes in opinion regarding mental illness in terms of Authoritarianism, Benevolence and Social Restrictiveness (9) . In other countries (11)(12) , theoretical content and practical experience were important factors for developing more positive attitudes regarding individuals affected by mental illness, reducing the stigma presented by graduating nursing students. This result was also observed in a cohort study (12) .…”

“…In other countries (11)(12) , theoretical content and practical experience were important factors for developing more positive attitudes regarding individuals affected by mental illness, reducing the stigma presented by graduating nursing students. This result was also observed in a cohort study (12) . In Victoria, Australia, a survey conducted with 703 students (13) at the conclusion of their clinical experience in mental health assessed the contribution of the clinical internship to mental health services.…”

“…In terms of Brazilian studies, highlighting the latter (14) , and on the international level, the Australian studies (5)(6)8,(11)(12)(13) . In the main and most recent/last Brazilian study (13) , a wide-reaching survey was conducted on the theme, in which the researchers considered the complexity of the phenomenon of mental health education.…”

Stigma and Empathy: Sex Workers as Educators of Medical Students

“…They felt that sharing personal stories about mental illness was a powerful tool to decrease the stigma of mental illness and may be an important aspect of a person's recovery from mental illness. In a similar vein, Happell et al [17] compared a mental health nursing course delivered traditionally to one delivered by an instructor with lived experience with mental illness and mental health service use. Impressively, the group that learned from the instructor with lived experience showed increased intention to pursue mental health nursing as a career and decreased negative stereotypes about mental illness; these findings were not observed in the group in the traditional course.…”

“…Reports of Robitz and colleagues [1], O'Reilly and colleagues [13], and Happel and colleagues [17] all suggest that the impact of contact with the stories of people suffering from medical and mental illness in an educational setting is very powerful and beneficial to all parties. Anecdotal accounts of educational efforts involving sex workers suggest that direct educational contact may be beneficial to remove the barriers to access to health care for these workers.…”