The impact of antistigma education on the attitudes of general practitioners regarding schizophrenia*

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the views and attitudes of general practitioners (GP) with respect to schizophrenia, and the changes in their attitudes after antistigma education. A total of 106 GPs working in 71 health institutions were included in the study. A questionnaire of 16 items, focussing on doctors' views and attitudes towards schizophrenia, was applied. Questions were about the views and attitudes of doctors towards general myths related to schizophrenia. Doctors were asked to select one of two responses: 'I agree' or 'I disagree', for statements such as 'schizophrenic patients cannot work' and 'schizophrenic patients are aggressive and dangerous'. After completing the questionnaire, all the GPs were given a single session of antistigma education. The questionnaire was repeated 3 months after training meetings in a subsample of 54 GPs which represented the whole sample in terms of gender, age, and years in medical practice. The authors found statistically significant, positive changes on five items out of the 16 items in the post-test survey when compared to attitudes before training, including items about the treatability of schizophrenia, harmfulness and untrustworthiness of schizophrenic patients. The authors' findings suggest that one antistigma education session, supported by the distribution of related documents, can improve GPs attitudes towards schizophrenia.

Reducing mental health-related stigma in primary health care settings in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

“…In seven studies, stigma was explicitly addressed in this theoretical introduction. As an example, Ucok et al (2006) described their intervention as follows: “the slide presentation lasted approximately 45 minutes and included current information on the course of schizophrenia and its treatment, the impact of stigma on schizophrenia, and description of GPs’ roles” (p. 440).…”

Professional Service Utilisation among Patients with Severe Mental Disorders

“…Stigmatisation of patients with SMD by GPs has also been reported as a hindering factor (e.g. GPs' fear of patient crisis and psychotic disorders) [66]. …”

Effects of the diagnostic label ‘schizophrenia’, actively used or passively accepted, on general practitioners’ views of this disorder

“…The results of this study highlight that there may be a need to provide some GPs with training on clinical features of schizophrenia and education about stigma and its effects on health (Ucok et al, 2006). Based on the findings of this study, we are planning educational initiatives to provide GPs with information on the experience of psychosis, actual rates of recovery, risks of dangerous behaviours, and effectiveness of both drug and psychological treatments for this problem and to sensitise them to stigma.…”

“…Suboptimal health care for PWS may be related to some physicians' limited knowledge of this disorder, and/or negative attitudes towards people with severe mental health problems (Solar, 2002;Liggins & Hatcher, 2005;Ucok et al, 2006;. Studies have revealed that physicians sometimes do not take the medical needs of PWS seriously, and that they tend to associate patient's physical complaints with mental illness (Shefer, Henderson, Howard, Murray, & Thornicroft, 2014) and to underestimate medical symptom severity (Thornicroft, Rose, & Kassam, 2007).…”

“…Studies examining GPs' beliefs about people diagnosed with severe mental health problems reported that they tend to have low levels of sympathy toward people who self-harm (Goldney & Bottrill, 1980;Parker et al, 2001), believe that it is difficult to talk with mentally ill persons, and view them as dangerous and unpredictable (Parker et al, 2001;Adewuya & Oguntade, 2007). For instance, of 106 GPs in Turkey (Ucok et al, 2006), 28% viewed PWS as dangerous, 46% as untrustworthy, and 23% did not believe that they could recover even if treated. Other studies revealed that GPs have more negative attitudes toward PWS than toward otherwise identical persons diagnosed as having depression (Lawrie et al, 1996;Jorm, Korten, Jacomb, Christensen, & Henderson, 1999).…”