Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Perceived Barriers Among Mental Health Professionals in Sudanese Psychiatric Hospitals Regarding COVID-19 Outbreak

Author(s):  
Fajr Elhashimi ◽  
Mohammed Ibrahim ◽  
Bhaga Taha

Abstract Background: Since March 11, 2020, COVID-19 has been declared as a pandemic by WHO, it has caused substantial morbidity and mortality globally thus knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) related to the COVID-19 outbreak are one of the priorities in such a pandemic. KAP in a non-COVID facility, such as a psychiatric institution needs to be addressed. Aims: To assess mental health professionals knowledge, attitude, and practice working Sudanese in psychiatric facilitatesMethods: A cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire targeting the whole population of mental health professionals(MHPs) which is 141, was conducted at three psychiatric facilities in Khartoum state , Sudan. 89 agreed to participate in the study consisting of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses staff participated in the study. Results: 70.8% of MHP’s in this study had adequate knowledge of COVID-19 symptomatology, transmission, management, and preventive measures. 44.9% were not willing to take COVID19 vaccine. Good practices like maintaining quarantine during outbreak and wearing a medical mask were observed. The significant difference found in Spearman’s correlation was between knowledge and attitude which was negative correlation. Findings showed that MHPs (37.1%,N=33) had positive Practice,(57.3%,N=51) had positive attitude regarding COVID-19. MHPs perceived that lack of an official specialized in infection control ,overcrowding in psychiatric patients’ room and Lack of policy procedures of infection control practice were the major barriers to infection control. Inferential analysis indicated that Social workers showing higher knowledge (mean=57.95) than other MHPs (P=0.009) and psychiatrist showed higher attitude (62.63). Conclusions: This study found that MHPs in Sudan have good knowledge, and suggest a special need to scale up facilities’ infection control materials to meet the required good practice.

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 1117-1117
Author(s):  
A. Jauhari ◽  
M.K. Tiptur ◽  
A. Jauhari ◽  
M. Krishna

IntroductionInternet is the fastest growing medium and more than 50 million people seek health information online1. Almost a third of internet users with history of psychiatric disorder had used the internet to seek mental health information2.MethodA survey was conducted amongst North Wales, UK mental health professionals to understand their knowledge, attitude and practice about this topic. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed out of which 71 responses were received.ResultAbout 39% mental health professionals believed that consultation is the best way to give mental health related information to the patients. Only 5% of mental health professionals always and 46% sometimes advised patients to look at internet for mental health related information. About 50% felt that internet will increase patient's understanding of their illness and 37% felt that it will improve their compliance. Sixty percent people felt that mental health information on internet is evidence-based. About 30% of the mental health professionals thought that the use of internet by mental health patients will increase the patient's anxiety and will increase their visit to the doctor. Majority did not have enough knowledge of websites to suggest to the patients.ConclusionMost professionals thought that it is a useful concept but further awareness about evidence-based website for professionals is needed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Sol Lee ◽  
Vin Ryu ◽  
Ji Hyun Lee ◽  
Hyeon Hong ◽  
Hyeree Han ◽  
...  

Background: Job stress of mental health professionals can have a negative impact on them, particularly their psychological health and mortality, and may also affect organizations' and institutions' ability to provide quality mental health services to patients.Aim: This study aimed to: (1) investigate the validity and reliability of the Korean Mental Health Professionals Stress Scale (K-MHPSS), (2) develop K-MHPSS cut-off points to measure clinical depression and anxiety, and (3) examine whether specific stressors vary by area of expertise.Methodology: Data were collected via an online survey over 3 months, from August to October 2020. An online survey using a survey website was administered to volunteers who accessed the link and consented to participate. Data from 558 participants (200 clinical psychologists, 157 nurses, and 201 social workers) were included in the final analysis. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted to examine the factor structure of the K-MHPSS; concurrent validity of the scale was determined by analyzing correlation; internal consistency was determined by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In addition, ROC curve analysis and Youden's index were used to estimate optimal cut-off points for K-MHPSS; one-way ANOVA was performed to investigate the difference among the three groups.Results: The seven-factor model of the original scale did not be replicated by Korean mental health professionals. The K-MHPSS had the best fit with the six-factor model, which consists of 34 items. Concurrent validity was confirmed, and overall reliability was found to be good. The K-MHPSS cut-off points for depression and anxiety appeared to slightly different by professional groups. Furthermore, nurses and social workers showed significantly higher total scores compared to clinical psychologists, and there are significant differences in subscale scores among professionals.Conclusion: The Korean version of the MHPSS has appropriate psychometric properties and can be used to assess the occupational stress of mental health professionals. It can also serve as a reference point for screening clinical level of depression and anxiety in mental health professionals.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
LOKESH KUMAR S ◽  
ZAMEERA NAIK ◽  
ARUN PANWAR ◽  
SRIDHAR M ◽  
VAISHALI KELUSKAR ◽  
...  

Background: COVID-19 vaccine is the mighty weapon opted by all the countries across the globe in an attempt to eradicate the fatal COVID-19 pandemic. The myths on the COVID-19 vaccine are spreading widely, causing a hindrance to this noble preventive measure. The prevalence of such myths among the healthcare professionals may be toxic and deadly. Aim & Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of the healthcare professionals regarding the myths on COVID-19 vaccination and to demystify them. Materials and Methods: An 18-item questionnaire evaluating knowledge, attitude, and practice based on the existing myths on COVID-19 vaccination was circulated through Google Forms among the 412 healthcare professionals of six disciplines belonging to a private University. The responses obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS 20 software package. Results: A total of 385 health professionals participated in this study. The majority of them had medium knowledge (165) and positive attitude (273) with the mean knowledge and attitude scores of 3.82 (SD-1.55) out of 6 and 4.3 (SD-1.58) out of 7 respectively. Even though 312 participants got vaccinated, 72 of them failed to receive it. The knowledge scores showed a high statistically significant difference among the participants of different designations (p=0.001), but not with gender, field, and staff with different years of experience (p>0.05). The attitude scores were statistically different among participants of fields and designation (p<0.05) but not among genders (p=0.31) and staff with different years of experience (p=0.87). Knowledge and attitude scores showed a positive linear correlation and a high statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusion: This study recommends more enhanced education programs on COVID-19 vaccination for the health professionals and demands an improved knowledge, attitude, and practice among them to achieve the goal of 100% vaccination so as to completely eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 83-83
Author(s):  
Joseph Hooley ◽  
Laurel Ralston ◽  
Joel Daniel Marcus ◽  
Carolyn Best ◽  
Diana Karius ◽  
...  

83 Background: Delirium is a common neuropsychiatric condition associated with increased morbidity and mortality, length of hospitalization, and distress. The prevalence of delirium in cancer ranges from 10% to 30% in hospitalized patients and up to 85% in terminally ill cancer patients. Rates of delirium on Cleveland Clinic’s inpatient oncology units were lower than expected. Our goal was to integrate mental health professionals into the care team to assist with better recognition and management of delirium. Methods: Education was developed for a range of caregivers, including physicians, nurses, and advanced practice providers. It was facilitated by a psychiatrist, psychologist, and clinical social workers, and included proper identification of both hyper- and hypoactive delirium through use of the Brief Confusion Assessment Method (bCAM) and use of a delirium order set to treat and manage patients identified as positive for delirium. An important component of this education included a proper assessment and comparison of patients’ current mental status compared to their true baseline prior to hospitalization. Additional integration directly into the care team included participation of the psychiatrist, psychologist, and clinical social workers into each team’s multidisciplinary rounds to facilitate discussions around delirium and its appropriate management, and separate targeted rounding which included one-to-one education with front-line caregivers. Results: During the first year of integration, substantial improvements were noted. The percentage of patients identified as positive for delirium through bCAM screening increased from 3.4% to 15.8% after 12 months, and utilization of the delirium order set increased from 11.1% to 58.3%. Additionally, the average nursing unit length of stay (LOS) for delirium-positive patients decreased by more than 2 days compared to baseline. Conclusions: Integration of mental health providers into the care team to assist with recognizing and managing patients with delirium and to provide direct education to front-line caregivers has helped to rapidly improve delirium identification and management for oncology inpatients.


1976 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 565-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Morrison ◽  
Jeffrey S. Nevid

In support of the construct validity of the Client Attitude Questionnaire, 16 psychologists and 25 social workers reported attitudes more characteristic of the controversial psychosocial position about “mental illness” than 20 psychiatrists, 23 psychiatric nurses, or 40 previously hospitalized psychiatric outpatients.


2009 ◽  
Vol 195 (S52) ◽  
pp. s51-s56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Gray ◽  
Rosalyn Spilling ◽  
David Burgess ◽  
Tim Newey

BackgroundA patient-centred approach to care, focusing on recovery, demands a reconsideration of how choices are made about treatment, how this affects medication adherence, and the role of long-acting antipsychotics (LAIs) in this process.AimsTo explore the role of the mental health professional (particularly nurses) in helping patients manage their medication, with a specific focus of the use and administration of LAIs.MethodA pragmatic review of the literature.ResultsPatients (by experience) and mental health professionals (by training and clinical practice) are experts in the care and treatment of psychosis. When patients and clinicians make a joint decision both are more likely to adhere to the treatment plan. In this paper we consider good practice in the administration of LAIs that focuses on where and when they should be given and administration techniques. Skills for talking with patients about their medication that include exchanging information, monitoring the effects of medication and making advance choices about treatment in the event of a crisis are also discussed.ConclusionsMental health professionals require a range of competences to help patients manage their medication effectively.


1992 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynette Schwarz Danylchuk

Compares the academic and clinical training requirements for Fellow level members of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) with those of Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs). Concludes from the empirical findings that AAPC Fellows receive more education, clinical training, and continued supervision than do Licensed Clinical Social Workers. Notes a need for additional and similar types research comparing education and clinical requirements of pastoral counselors with those of other mental health professionals.


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