The Effectiveness of an Educational Program on the Mental Health Literacy of Nurses Working in General Hospitals: a Controlled Trial
Overview
- Phase
- N/A
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Mental Health Issue
- Sponsor
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Enrollment
- 150
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Change from baseline in level of mental health literacy
- Status
- Not Yet Recruiting
- Last Updated
- 3 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
Mental health literacy is a concept that encompasses knowledge of mental health, mental illnesses, and their management; mental illness-related attitudes/ stigma; and help-seeking efficacy. It impacted care provision by affecting healthcare professionals' ability to recognize, manage and prevent mental illnesses. It was found that physical-mental comorbidity (co-occurrence of physical and mental illnesses) imposed a burden on patients and the healthcare system. However, the referral rate to psychiatric consultation-liaison in general hospitals was low could be attributed to the suboptimal level of mental health literacy of general hospital healthcare professionals. Nurses are the major healthcare workforce in general hospitals for the initial identification of mental illness, help doctors to deal with patients' conditions, and make a contribution to positive patient outcomes in general hospitals. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve the mental health literacy of nurses working in general hospitals.
An education program had been developed guided by the concept of mental health literacy, and self-efficacy theory. This study aims to examine the effect of an educational program on improving the mental health literacy of general hospital nurses, in terms of knowledge of mental health, mental illnesses, and their treatment; attitude or stigma about mental illnesses; and help-seeking efficacy. It also measures the interventional effect on perceived competency in caring for patients with mental illness and work stress among general hospital nurses, as well as patient satisfaction with nursing care in general hospitals.
Detailed Description
This study is a prospective 2-arm parallel controlled trial. The study sites will be conducted in the emergency departments and medical wards of two similar regional general hospitals. It is estimated using GPower that a sample size of 64 participants per group is adequate to detect an effect size of 0.5 on the primary outcomes at a post-intervention time point with 80% power at a 5% level of significance. Participants will be assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. Participants in the intervention group will receive a Mental Health Literacy Program consisting of six 30-minutes online educational sessions and one 60-minutes face-to-face session. No active intervention will be given to the control group. Outcome measures will be measured by the Mental Health Literacy Scale, the Behavioral Health Care Competency survey, the Workplace Stress Scale, and Hospital Patient Satisfaction Survey at baseline, immediately after intervention, and one-month after intervention.
Investigators
CHEUNG, Janice
Student
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Full-time registered nurse (general) or enrolled nurse (general)
- •Take care for adult patients in emergency departments or medical ward
Exclusion Criteria
- •Does not understand Chinese and English
- •Unable to access or use the internet.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Change from baseline in level of mental health literacy
Time Frame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, one month after intervention
The level of participant's mental health literacy will be evaluated using The Mental Health Literacy Scale developed by Connor \& Casey (2015). This questionnaire comprised 35 items which consisted of the ability to recognize disorders (8 questions), knowledge of where to seek information (4 questions), knowledge of risk factors and causes (2 questions), knowledge of self-treatment (2 questions), knowledge of professional help available (3 questions), attitudes that promote recognition or appropriate help-seeking behavior (16 questions) (O'Connor \& Casey, 2015). Questions with a 4-point scale are rated "1" was very unlikely/unhelpful, "4" was very likely/helpful and for a 5-point scale that "1" strongly disagreed/definitely unwilling, "5" strongly agreed/definitely willing. The higher the total score indicates a higher level of mental health literacy.
Secondary Outcomes
- Change from baseline in patient satisfaction with nursing care(Baseline, immediately after intervention, one month after intervention)
- Change from baseline in level of work stress(Baseline, immediately after intervention, one month after intervention)
- Change from baseline in perceived competency in caring for patients with mental illnesses(Baseline, immediately after intervention, one month after intervention)