title: Healthcare providers' attitudes toward persons with schizophrenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compared the attitudes of mental health and primary care providers toward persons with schizophrenia at 5 Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study utilized a cross-sectional anonymous survey, including clinical vignettes describing identical patient scenarios for a hypothetical patient with and without schizophrenia, to examine the differences in attitudes of primary care and mental health providers. The survey was distributed in 3 waves from August 2011 to April 2012. Participants included 351 VA providers from 5 VA medical centers, including 205 mental health providers (psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health nurses) and 146 primary care providers (nurses and physicians). Providers' attitudes were assessed on 3 domains, including social distance, stereotyping, and attribution of mental illness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Primary care providers had significantly more negative attitudes toward the vignette patient with schizophrenia compared with the patient without schizophrenia on 2 of 3 attitude measures (stereotyping and attribution of mental illness); however, this difference was not observed for mental health providers on the 2 measures. Conclusions and Implication for Practice: Primary care providers' negative attitudes toward individuals with schizophrenia represent a potential target for interventions to reduce disparities in care for individuals with schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mittal
authors.affiliation: College of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corrigan
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota.
authors.forename: Michelle D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Sherman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Division of Health Services Research, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
authors.forename: Lakshminarayana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chekuri
authors.affiliation: VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Xiaotong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reaves
authors.affiliation: Division of Evaluation and Research, Louisiana Public Health Institute.
authors.forename: Snigdha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.affiliation: College of Psychology, Illinois Institute of Technology.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Greer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sullivan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology