Patient education materials for mental health problems in family practice: does location matter?
BACKGROUND
This study examines how frequently family physicians display printed educational materials about mental health problems in their practices and where these materials should be located for optimal effect.


METHODS
A cross-sectional observational study of pamphlet display practices in 13 family physicians' offices in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada was followed by an intervention which placed selected mental health educational materials in waiting rooms and examining rooms, and monitored the pick up rate from each location by patients.


RESULTS
The study found that few mental health pamphlets were displayed by the participating physicians, that when a range of these pamphlets was made available, pamphlets on mood disorders were the most popular, and that significantly more pamphlets were picked up from examining rooms than from waiting rooms.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that patients are interested in having access to printed materials about mental health problems, and that the optimal location is in display racks in examining rooms.
Craven
M A
MA
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, 50 Charlton Avenue East, Hamilton, Ont., Canada L8N 4A6. cravenm@mcmaster.ca
Nikolaou
L
L
Allen
C J
CJ
Crustolo
A M
AM
Kates
N
N
D015982:Bias; D003219:Confidentiality; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006293:Health Promotion; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D008603:Mental Health; D009864:Ontario; D010174:Pamphlets; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010824:Physicians' Offices / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011322:Primary Prevention; D013664:Teaching Materials; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health