Knowledge and attitudes of secondary school teachers toward substances abuse among the students

BackgroundEngagement and training of educators in student mental health holds promise for promoting access to care as a task sharing strategy but has not been well-studied in low-income regions.MethodsWe used a prospective and convergent mixed methods design to evaluate a customized school mental health 2½ day training for teachers in rural Haiti (n = 22) as the initial component of formative research developing a school-based intervention to promote student mental health. Training prepared teachers to respond to student mental health needs by providing psychoeducational and practical support to facilitate access to care. We examined level of participation and evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and perceived effectiveness by calculating mean scores on self-report Likert-style items eliciting participant experience. We examined effectiveness of the training on improving mental health knowledge and attitudes by comparing mean scores on an assessment administered pre- and post-training. Finally, we examined self-report written open-ended responses and focus group discussion (FGD) interview data bearing on perceived feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness to contextualize participant ratings of training and to identify recommendations for enhancing the utility of mental health training locally for educators.ResultsMean scores of knowledge and attitudes significantly improved between the pre-test and post-tests; e.g., knowledge improved from 58% correct at baseline to 68% correct on the second post-test (p = 0.039). Mean ratings of the training were favorable across all categories and FGD data demonstrated widespread participant endorsement of training acceptability and effectiveness; participants recommended extending the duration and number of training sessions.ConclusionsFindings support feasibility, acceptability, and a limited scope of effectiveness of brief mental health training for secondary school teachers in Haiti. Further development of approaches to engage teachers in promoting school mental health through training is warranted.

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Knowledge and attitudes of secondary and higher secondary school teachers toward mental illness in Ahmedabad

Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry ◽

10.4103/0971-9962.176770 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 56 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nimesh Parikh ◽

Minakshi Parikh ◽

Ganpat Vankar ◽

Chintan Solanki ◽

Girish Banwari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Secondary School ◽

Secondary School Teachers ◽

School Teachers ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes

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Epilepsy awareness, knowledge and attitudes among secondary school teachers in Montenegro

Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo ◽

10.2298/sarh160218026v ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 145 (3-4) ◽

pp. 129-135

Author(s):

Slavica Vujisic ◽

Sanja Vodopic

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Secondary School Teachers ◽

Teaching Experience ◽

First Aid ◽

Further Education ◽

School Teachers ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Knowledge And Attitudes ◽

Almost All

Introduction/Objective. Epilepsy is associated with numerous misconceptions due to its dramatic manifestation and poor knowledge among the public. The aim of this study was to assess epilepsy awareness, knowledge and attitudes among secondary school teachers. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey by sending a simple self-administered questionnaire to all secondary schools in Podgorica, Montenegro. The questionnaire contained 16 questions regarding epilepsy awareness, knowledge and attitudes, first aid attitudes, as well as demographic and teaching experience data. Results. We analyzed 219 questionnaires. Almost all teachers had heard or read about epilepsy, 57.5% of whom knew someone with epilepsy; 21% had a pupil with epilepsy in their class; more than 50% had witnessed a seizure, with 25% of them linking epilepsy to a central nervous disturbance. Over 60% of teachers chose convulsions/shaking to be a major feature of an epileptic attack. Forty percent of teachers thought epilepsy could be cured. Almost 80% thought people with epilepsy should get married and have children, but only one third would marry a person with epilepsy. Over 13% would object to their child playing with another child with epilepsy, and more than 50% would object if their child married a person with epilepsy. About 35% of teachers suggested putting something in a person?s mouth during attack to prevent tongue injury and asphyxiation. Conclusion. Awareness and understanding of epilepsy among teachers were satisfactory, but the results also revealed negative attitudes. Teachers need further education about epilepsy to increase seizure recognition and first aid management, reduce stigma, and intensify acceptance of people with epilepsy.

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