TITLE:
Health Care Students’ Attitudes towards People with Schizophrenia—A Survey of Eight University Training Programs
AUTHORS:
Bengt Svensson, David Brunt, Ulrika Bejerholm, Mona Eklund, Amanda Lundvik Gyllensten, Christel Leufstadius, Urban Markström, Mikael Sandlund, Margareta Östman, Lars Hansson
KEYWORDS:
Attitudes, Stigma, Schizophrenia, Students
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.4 No.4,
October
15,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: Discrimination and stigmatization of
people with mental illness are a global and complex phenomenon and there is
evidence that negative attitudes and discrimination are also prevalent among
health care staff and health care students. Methods: Attitudes towards people with schizophrenia among 1101 students
in eight different university programs providing training for work in the
health care and social sectors were explored, using a
cross-sectional design. Results: In five of the eight training programs the majority
of the students’ perceived people with schizophrenia as a danger to others. In
several aspects police students were found to hold more negative attitudes than
students from other programs. Students with previous experiences of work in
mental health services and students knowing a person with schizophrenia showed
more positive attitudes. Discussion: In order to decrease negative attitudes
and prejudices towards people with schizophrenia among students, it is
essential that the training includes personal contact with people with
experience of being mental illness.