Is education of health professionals encouraging stigma towards the mentally ill?

Abstract

All the students in a Boston area nursing school were offered the opportunity to take a battery of tests before and after receiving health education, training and experience. The battery included measures of overall attitudes towards the mentally ill, writing judgements about 'troubled people' in specific situations (a vignette instrument), a social desirability scale, a request for basic demographic information as well as information regarding previous contact with the mentally ill and a pilot measure of 'courtesy' stigma. 'Courtesy' stigma refers to the stigma attached to people associated with the mentally ill, such as mental health professionals. Health education and experience did not significantly affect attitudes towards the mentally ill but subjects overall rated mental health professionals more 'kindly' after being exposed to health education and experience. Students who had had a friend who was mentally ill prior to their school training showed a decrease in stigmatizing attitudes after being exposed to health education and experience whereas other students showed an increase. Other experience with the mentally ill, such as being co-workers on the job, did not have the same effect. Implications for the training of health professionals are discussed.