Discrimination in health care against people with mental illness

This paper discusses factors associated with low rates of help-seeking and poorer quality of physical healthcare among people with mental illnesses. Evidence is reviewed on the associations between low rates of mental health literacy, negative attitudes towards people with mental illness, and reluctance to seek help by people who consider that they may have a mental disorder. People with mental illness often report encountering negative attitudes among mental health staff about their prognosis, associated in part with ‘physician bias’. ‘Diagnostic overshadowing’ appears to be common in general health care settings, meaning the misattribution of physical illness signs and symptoms to concurrent mental disorders, leading to underdiagnosis and mistreatment of the physical conditions.     

网络干预对社区精神分裂症患者病耻感的影响及其机制

目的 探讨网络干预对社区精神分裂症患者病耻感的影响极其机制.方法 随机抽取的社区精神分裂症患者105例分为网络干预组(n=53)和对照组(n=52),对干预组进行5个月的网络干预,采用问卷调查法,比较两组患者社会支持、临床症状、自我效能感以及病耻感,并分析影响患者病耻感的因素.结果 经5个月的网络干预后,干预组患者主观支持、客观支持、支持的利用度、一般自我效能感量表分高于对照组患者,简明精神病评定量表的缺乏活力因子、思维障碍因子、焦虑抑郁因子得分和病耻感量表分均低于对照组患者,差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.05),患者的自我效能感、主观支持和焦虑抑郁因子分与患者的病耻感相关.结论 网络干预可以提高患者社会支持并增强自我效能感,减轻临床症状和病耻感,自我效能感、主观支持和焦虑抑郁因子分是网络干预影响患者病耻感的重要因素.     

Nurses’ attitudes to mental illness: A comparison of a sample of nurses from five European countries

Background

Mental health problems are of serious concern across Europe. A major barrier to the realisation of good mental health and well-being is stigma and discrimination. To date there is limited knowledge or understanding of mental health nurses’ attitudes towards mental illness and individuals experiencing mental health problems.

Objectives

To describe and compare attitudes towards mental illness and those experiencing mental health problems across a sample of registered nurses working in mental health settings from five European countries and the factors associated with these attitudes.

Design

A questionnaire survey.

Settings

A total of 72 inpatient wards and units and five community facilities in Finland, Lithuania, Ireland, Italy and Portugal.

Participants

810 registered nurses working in mental health settings.

Methods

The data were collected using The Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale, which is a 40-item self-report questionnaire. The data were analysed using quantitative methods.

Results

Nurses’ attitudes were mainly positive. Attitudes differed across countries, with Portuguese nurses’ attitudes being significantly more positive and Lithuanian nurses’ attitudes being significantly more negative than others’. Positive attitudes were associated with being female and having a senior position.

Conclusions

Though European mental health nurses’ attitudes to mental illness and people with mental health problems differ significantly across some countries, they are largely similar. The differences observed could be related to wider social, cultural and organisational circumstances of nursing practice.     

Continuum beliefs and stigmatizing attitudes towards persons with schizophrenia,depression and alcohol dependence

Separation is a central step in the process of stigmatizing persons with mental disorders. We examine whether belief in a continuum of symptoms from mental health to mental illness is associated with less stigmatizing attitudes. In a representative population survey in Germany (n=3642), using case-vignettes of persons suffering from schizophrenia, depression or alcohol dependence, we measured belief in a continuity of symptoms, emotional reactions and desire for social distance related to the person described in the vignette. While 42% of respondents agreed in symptom continuity for depression, this percentage was 26% for schizophrenia and 27% for alcohol dependence. Continuum beliefs were associated in general with more positive emotional reactions and less desire for social distance. This relationship was strongest for schizophrenia, followed by alcohol dependence. Continuum beliefs thus seem to be associated with less stigmatizing attitudes, particularly regarding schizophrenia and alcohol dependence. Educational information on the continuous nature of most psychopathological phenomena could usefully be integrated in anti-stigma messages.     

Health Care Professionals Attitudes Towards Mental Illness: Observational Study Performed at a Public Health Facility in Northern Italy

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Defines stigma as the process of social oppression barring persons with mental illness from enjoying social interaction through discrimination, exclusion and denial of human and social rights. Modern stereotypes still portray the mentally ill as guilty, unpredictable and violent. Observational studies report how healthcare professionals, including nurses, are often part of the stigma. Such phenomenon belittles the needs of people seeking mental care. The aim of this study is to describe attitudes held by psychiatric nurses and mental care professionals from different care settings of an Italian Healthcare Facility, towards the mentally ill and to identify any associated factors. Mental health care professionals were recruited for this observational study from 10 Italian different psychiatric care units. The Italian version of the Community Attitudes Mentally Ill inventory (CAMI-I) was validated and used for this study. 120 completed questionnaires were deemed valid. Optimal internal consistency (α = 0.856) was measured by calculating Cronbach's Alpha for the CAMI-I. Demographic variables were correlated to items grouped into three factors of the CAMI-I (authoritarian attitudes, benevolence, social restrictiveness). Parametric test (ANOVA) highlight significant differences between CAMI-I results for different demographic variables. Significant data were obtained by comparing responses for each factor of the CAMI-i per professional profile. All healthcare professionals studied show sensitivity and positive attitude towards mental illness. Positive approaches to mental illness contribute towards easing therapeutic care and recovery in patient-centred care. CAMI-I will be a useful tool to identifying discriminatory approaches and sensitize health professionals in Italy.     

Measuring public discomfort at meeting people with disabilities

The discomfort reported by the general public at the prospect of personal contact with marginalised groups is an expression of the stigma they experience. This has been widely studied in relation to ethnic minorities and immigrants but less so for persons with disabilities. A national survey with a representative sample of over 1100 Irish adults provided an opportunity to examine reported discomfort with persons who had different impairments, including mental health conditions, with four other minority groups. Moreover, the personal and situational variables associated with expressions of discomfort were identified.Respondents were most comfortable having persons with physical and sensorial disabilities living in their neighbourhood or in their workplace but less so for persons with intellectual disabilities and even less for people with mental health conditions. They were much less comfortable with the four other social groups: gay, lesbian or bisexual people; Eastern European migrant workers; black and ethnic minority groups and least of all, travellers. Moreover, a factor analysis confirmed that the scores given to the impaired groups were significantly correlated with each other but less so with the other four social groupings, although these were significantly inter-correlated among themselves. Respondents who were more comfortable with both sets of minority groups tended to have more social connections in their personal lives and to reside in towns or villages rather than cities. They also expressed more positive attitudes to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Irish society.The gradient in levels of public discomfort across minority groups may provide a sensitive indicator of the differential stigma experienced by persons with impairments within societies but there remains the possibility that an alliance with other minority groups would also help to promote more positive attitudes and reduce their wider social exclusion.     

Reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI) in patients with stroke

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI) in patients with stroke.

Methods In total, 220 patients with stroke were recruited to complete the scale. The reliability of the SSCI was evaluated using internal consistency and test–retest methods. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to identify domains of the SSCI. Convergent validity was determined by analyzing the correlation between SSCI scores, activities of daily living (ADL) and depression.

Results Construct validity was determined by factor analysis, extracting three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, explaining 30.5%, 25.7%, and 8.5% of the variance, respectively, and accounting for 64.8% of the variance. All items had factor loadings above 0.40. The first factor comprised questions related to ‘self-stigma’ (items 1–13). The second (items 14–22) and third (items 23–24) factors aggregated questions related to ‘enacted stigma’. In terms of convergent validity, the SSCI total scale was moderately correlated to the Barthel Index (BI) and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). Cronbach’s alpha value (internal reliability) for the total SSCI score was 0.949, and the intraclass correlation coefficient value (test-retest reliability) was 0.802.

Discussion The results provide initial evidence that the SSCI is a reliable and validated measure for evaluating stigma in stroke patients in China.     

Changes in attitudes towards mental disorders and psychiatric treatment 1976–2014 in a Swedish population

Background: Mental illness has always been subject to stigma and discrimination. There are a number of studies on public attitudes towards people with mental illness. Long-term studies, however, examining changes over time are scarce. Aims: The aim of this study was to examine potential changes concerning attitudes between 1976 and 2014 in Vilhelmina, a community in northern Sweden. Methods: A postal questionnaire was sent out to a random sample of 500 adults aged 18–70 years. The same questionnaire has previously been used in 1976 and 2003. Results: The attitudes towards people with mental illness have not generally become more positive over the years. In 2014 almost a quarter of the population still think that “people with mental illness commit violentX acts more than others”. Even more people in 2014 than in 1976 agree to the statement that “mental illness harms the reputation more than a physical disease” (77.2% versus 52.8%). People with low educational level have more negative views than people with higher education. Younger respondents, < 20 years, had a more positive view than the older age groups. Almost 70% of the respondents would advise someone with psychological problems to seek a psychiatrist but only 23% of the respondents would follow their own advice. Psychotherapy has been and is still highly appreciated. As regards medication the perception is more critical, but there has been a significant change, however, to a more positive attitude towards medication since 1976. Conclusion: Attitudes towards mental illness and mentally ill people have not changed substantially over time.     

Non-traumatic lower limb older amputees: a database survey from a geriatric centre

Purpose: The purpose of this survey was to examine the characteristic of a geriatric population admitted for amputation of a lower limb and to explore some of the factors that may affect the course of their hospital stay. Method: The study took place in the geriatric division of a tertiary general hospital and included a close geriatric-orthopaedic liaison. Two-hundred and forty-one patients were included in the final analysis. Results: Many above knee amputations were performed, which correlated with advanced age. Rates of in hospital mortality and systemic complications were 16% and 19%, respectively. Thirty-three percent of the patients were discharged back home, and only 6% were supplied with an artificial limb. The general condition of most patients remained poor. Conclusion: We conclude that despite a team approach to the care of the geriatric amputee a poor functional result was obtained. By encouraging earlier referrals from the community it is postulated that a reduction in the costly provision of antibiotics would be beneficial and that perhaps lower levels of amputation could be performed thereby enhancing the possibilities for ambulation.