title: Attitudes towards mental illness among health care students at Swedish universities--a follow-up study after completed clinical placement.
abstract: The aim of the study was to examine the changes in attitudes towards mental illness after theoretical education and clinical placement among students from university programmes preparing for different kinds of health professions. Three different questionnaires were used, measuring the level of familiarity with mental illness and attitudes towards mental illness in general and towards specific mental illnesses. The data were collected on two occasions, before the theoretical course and after the completed clinical placement. The result showed that the attitudes toward mental illness in general had changed in a less stigmatising direction after the clinical placement. On the other hand, attitudes toward specific mental illnesses did not show any major changes. A conclusion is that the clinical placement included in the university programmes to some extent could affect attitudes in a de-stigmatizing direction, possibly because of the interaction with persons suffering from mental illness and experienced supervisors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. urban.markstrom@socw.umu.se
authors.forename: Urban
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Markström
authors.forename: Amanda Lundvik
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Gyllensten
authors.forename: Ulrika
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bejerholm
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Björkman
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brunt
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hansson
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leufstadius
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sandlund
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ostman
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eklund
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011231:Preceptorship / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011287:Prejudice; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult