title: Impact of a Mental Illness Stigma Awareness Intervention on Pharmacy Student Attitudes and Knowledge.
abstract: Objective. To determine if exposure to an intervention course impacts pharmacy students' mental health stigma (MHS) and mental health knowledge (MHK). Methods. A one-group pre/posttest intervention study of third-year pharmacy students (N=120) was conducted. Dependent variables were subdomains of MHS (recovery, safety, disclosure, separation, comfort) which were measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree; 5=strongly agree). Mental health knowledge was measured with 10 true/false questions. The 2.5-hour intervention included presentations, videos, discussions, and active-learning exercises. Pre/posttests were administered, and data were analyzed using paired t tests and McNemar's tests. Results. Among responding students (n=88; 73.3% response rate), the following stigma subdomains significantly decreased after the intervention for depression and schizophrenia: recovery, safety, separation, and comfort. Mental health knowledge scores significantly increased from 5.9 (1.5) to 6.8 (1.5). Conclusion. Pharmacy students' MHS and MHK related to depression and schizophrenia can be improved through a brief and interactive anti-stigma intervention.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy, Austin, Texas.
authors.forename: Benita A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bamgbade
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy, Austin, Texas.
authors.forename: Kentya H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, College of Pharmacy, Austin, Texas.
authors.forename: Jamie C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Barner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D057545:Social Stigma; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: intervention; mental health; pharmacy student; social distance; stigma