Perspectives of university health care students on mental health stigma in Nigeria: Qualitative analysis

2022 ◽  
pp. 136346152110550
Author(s):  
Aderonke Bamgbose Pederson ◽  
J. Konadu Fokuo ◽  
Graham Thornicroft ◽  
Olamojiba Bamgbose ◽  
Oluseun Peter Ogunnubi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
University Teaching ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Spiritual Beliefs ◽  
Health Care Students ◽  
Public Health Burden

Mental illness is a significant public health burden in low- and middle-income countries. A wide treatment gap in mental health care exists within the Nigerian health care system and this gap is worsened by the presence of stigma associated with mental illness, which leads to delay in treatment or acts as a barrier to any care. In this study, our aim was to understand the factors that underlie mental illness stigma in order to inform the design of effective stigma-reducing interventions among health care students in Nigeria. We conducted four focus groups among university health care students in March 2019 in Nigeria. The students included nursing, pharmacy, and medical trainees from a university teaching hospital. We used an inductive-driven thematic analysis to identify codes and themes related to mental health stigma and conceptualization of mental health within the study group. Among the 40 participants, we identified how specific interpretations of religious and spiritual beliefs may be associated with stigmatizing behaviors such as social distancing and discrimination. Conceptualization of mental illness as a communicable disease and the attribution of mental illness to a moral failing contributed to stigma mechanisms. Overall, eight themes associated with mental health stigma and mental health-related concepts were found: spirituality, discrimination and devaluation, conceptualization of mental health, attribution theories, methods to reduce stigma, shortage of resources, violence and dangerousness, and maltreatment. We found that the co-existence of spiritual beliefs and biomedical and psychological models of mental health is a key factor to consider in the design of effective stigma-reducing interventions among university health students in Nigeria.

scholarly journals Development and validity of the Value-based Stigma Inventory (VASI): a value-sensitive questionnaire for the assessment of mental health stigma

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Rieckhof ◽  
Christian Sander ◽  
Sven Speerforck ◽  
Elke Prestin ◽  
Matthias C. Angermeyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Psychometric Evaluation ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Normative Values ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
New Instrument

Abstract Background It has been hypothesized that mental illness stigma differs according to what matters most to people, and that this results in value-based differences in stigma within societies. However, there is a lack of stigma measures that account for a broad range of values, including modern and liberal values. Methods For the development of the Value-based Stigma Inventory (VASI) a preliminary item-pool of 68 VASI-items was assembled by mental health and stigma experts. For psychometric evaluation, we tested the VASI in an online sample of the general population (n = 4983). Results Based on item-characteristics as well as explorative and confirmatory factor analyses, a final version of the VASI was developed, comprising 15 items and 5 subscales. The VASI shows good psychometric properties (item difficulty = 0.34 to 0.67; mean inter-item correlation r = 0.326; Cronbach’s α = 0.879). Medium to high correlations with established stigma scales (SDS, SSMI), medium associations with instruments assessing personal values (PVQ, KSA-3) and small to no associations with a social desirability scale (KSE-G) attest to good convergent and discriminatory validity of the new instrument. Normative values for the VASI subscales are presented. Conclusions The developed VASI can be used to assess public stigma of mental illness including personal stigma-relevant value orientations.

Stigma on mental illness in the Arab world: beyond the socio-cultural barriers

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Merhej
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Arab World ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Content Type

Purpose Research on mental illness stigma in the Arab world has traditionally focused on socio-cultural barriers that deprive persons with mental illness from their fundamental human right for privacy and informed consent. The purpose of this paper is to address the question whether or not mental health legislations in a number of Arab countries effectively safeguard the human rights of people with mental illness and protect them from stigmatizing and discriminatory practices. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative review of literature was performed over two rounds of search, targeting published research on mental illness stigma in the Arab world from year 2000 until now and existing national mental health legislations in the Arab world, using English and Arabic databases. Findings The review reveals that beyond society and culture, persistence of mental illness stigma in the Arab world may be explained by absent or inefficient monitoring mechanisms of mental health legislations and policies within the health-care setting. Although integration of mental health services into the primary health care system is being gradually implemented as a step toward de-stigmatization of mental illness, more remains to be done to change the stigmatizing behavior of the health personnel toward mental illness. Originality/value Mental health authorities in the Arab world need to be more aware of the public perceptions explaining people’s fear and reluctance to seek mental health care, so as to ensure that the control and monitoring mechanisms at both the primary and mental health care levels foster a human rights, culturally competent, patient-friendly and non-stigmatizing model of mental health care.

scholarly journals Racial identity and mental health stigma among Black adults in the United States

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aderonke O Bamgbose Pederson ◽  
Devan Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mental Illness Stigma ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Black Adults ◽  
Stigma Behavior

Objectives: Mental illness stigma is a barrier to engagement in mental health services. This study assesses our hypothesis that specific racial identity dimensions influences mental health behavior including stigma. Methods: We performed an online cross sectional observational study among Black adults (n = 248, ages 18-65). We examined the relationship between an individual's approach to their racial identity in the community and stigma behavior towards mental health; generalized linear models were performed. We assessed demographic characteristics as moderators of the primary association. Results: Black adults with higher centrality reported lower past stigma behavior (RR=1.57, CI: 1.11-2.21, p=0.01), but higher future intended stigma behavior (RR=0.93, CI: 0.88-0.99, p=0.02). Majority of respondents reported high centrality and high assimilation; however, assimilation did not appear to correlate with mental health stigma behavior. Age, education and ethnicity appeared to have a limited moderating effect on the association between centrality and stigma behavior. Conclusions: Centrality was associated with mental health stigma behavior. By understanding the intersecting characteristics that may increase the likelihood for mental illness stigma, we will be better able to reduce mental illness stigma and optimize engagement in mental health services.

scholarly journals Ethical Implications of Mental Health Stigma: Primary Health Care Providers’ Perspectives

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawsan Abuhammad ◽  
Heyam Dalky
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Mental Health Stigma ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Primary Health

Stigma towards mental illness is a widespread phenomenon not just in the developing world, but also in developed countries. Unfortunately, this stigma is not only restricted to the general population, but is also prevalent among professional health care providers. Research from developing countries is scarce. Thus, the aim of this paper was to explore health care providers’ attitudes toward mental illness stigma in the primary health care settings. The review sheds light on the ethical implications of mental health stigma as perceived by primary health care providers, and the proposed recommendations for responsible conduct of research and policy initiative in the context of mental health research. Utilizing CINAHL, Medline and Scopus electronic data bases, results are reported for the 41 studies that are grouped according to being from USA, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia and Arab World. The results from this review confirmed that stigma associated with mental illness have many ethical implications in the context of research including use of consent form, fair treatment, and good respect for individual rights concerning treatment choices. To counter stigma and prevent the ethical implications of such stigma, interventions in the form of awareness and training programs would be the best way to minimize and stop it. Further, govermnetal and political are needed to initiate a national code of ethics for mental health research in their respective coutries.

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