The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study
Introduction Mental health–related stigma is a barrier to treatment and recovery for serious mental illnesses (SMIs). Educational training programs demonstrate positive changes in health professional students’ attitudes and stigma toward SMI; however, student pharmacists have minimal opportunity to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists
2024-02-01
|
| Series: | Mental Health Clinician |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://theijpt.org/doi/pdf/10.9740/mhc.2024.02.073 |
| _version_ | 1797323979158978560 |
|---|---|
| author | Amber R. Tran, BS Saumyaa A. Patel, BS Lindsey J. Loera, PharmD Tawny Smith, PharmD, BCPP Samantha Catanzano, PharmD, BCPP |
| author_facet | Amber R. Tran, BS Saumyaa A. Patel, BS Lindsey J. Loera, PharmD Tawny Smith, PharmD, BCPP Samantha Catanzano, PharmD, BCPP |
| author_sort | Amber R. Tran, BS |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction
Mental health–related stigma is a barrier to treatment and recovery for serious mental illnesses (SMIs). Educational training programs demonstrate positive changes in health professional students’ attitudes and stigma toward SMI; however, student pharmacists have minimal opportunity to directly engage with the SMI population. This study aims to assess and compare student pharmacists’ stigma related to SMI before and after participating in a pilot series of direct-contact workshop experiences.
Methods
The 15-item Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers survey was administered to student pharmacists before and after the workshop experiences to measure stigma toward SMI. Five 2-hour workshops were provided to members of a local nonprofit organization serving people with SMI by student pharmacist volunteers detailing a health and wellness topic. The postworkshop survey included free text responses to obtain student feedback.
Results
Twenty-four complete preworkshop surveys were obtained, and most of them had positive attitudes and beliefs at baseline. Thirteen postworkshop surveys were obtained from student pharmacists who participated in a workshop event, and 9 were completed by student pharmacists who did not participate in a workshop event, which were used as a comparator group. Stigma decreased after participating in a workshop event, and those who participated demonstrated a lower degree of stigma versus the comparator group.
Discussion
Direct-contact experiences allow student pharmacists to interact with people with SMI earlier in their training and help reduce stigma toward those with psychiatric disorders. Future research is needed to identify large-scale changes in pharmacy student stigma. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T05:36:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56360b21327441ccb5601feea9cd3a5d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2168-9709 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T05:36:45Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Mental Health Clinician |
| spelling | doaj.art-56360b21327441ccb5601feea9cd3a5d2024-02-05T16:53:34ZengAmerican Association of Psychiatric PharmacistsMental Health Clinician2168-97092024-02-01141737810.9740/mhc.2024.02.073i2168-9709-14-1-73The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot studyAmber R. Tran, BS0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8118-6384Saumyaa A. Patel, BS1https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3999-9610Lindsey J. Loera, PharmD2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7969-5209Tawny Smith, PharmD, BCPP3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7512-4919Samantha Catanzano, PharmD, BCPP4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6281-70381 PharmD Candidate 2024, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas2 PharmD Candidate 2025, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas3 Assistant Professor of Practice, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas4 Associate Professor of Psychiatry, The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School, Austin, Texas5 Clinical Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TexasIntroduction Mental health–related stigma is a barrier to treatment and recovery for serious mental illnesses (SMIs). Educational training programs demonstrate positive changes in health professional students’ attitudes and stigma toward SMI; however, student pharmacists have minimal opportunity to directly engage with the SMI population. This study aims to assess and compare student pharmacists’ stigma related to SMI before and after participating in a pilot series of direct-contact workshop experiences. Methods The 15-item Opening Minds Scale for Healthcare Providers survey was administered to student pharmacists before and after the workshop experiences to measure stigma toward SMI. Five 2-hour workshops were provided to members of a local nonprofit organization serving people with SMI by student pharmacist volunteers detailing a health and wellness topic. The postworkshop survey included free text responses to obtain student feedback. Results Twenty-four complete preworkshop surveys were obtained, and most of them had positive attitudes and beliefs at baseline. Thirteen postworkshop surveys were obtained from student pharmacists who participated in a workshop event, and 9 were completed by student pharmacists who did not participate in a workshop event, which were used as a comparator group. Stigma decreased after participating in a workshop event, and those who participated demonstrated a lower degree of stigma versus the comparator group. Discussion Direct-contact experiences allow student pharmacists to interact with people with SMI earlier in their training and help reduce stigma toward those with psychiatric disorders. Future research is needed to identify large-scale changes in pharmacy student stigma.https://theijpt.org/doi/pdf/10.9740/mhc.2024.02.073serious mental illnessstigmaexperiential educationpharmacy studentpsychiatrymental health |
| spellingShingle | Amber R. Tran, BS Saumyaa A. Patel, BS Lindsey J. Loera, PharmD Tawny Smith, PharmD, BCPP Samantha Catanzano, PharmD, BCPP The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study Mental Health Clinician serious mental illness stigma experiential education pharmacy student psychiatry mental health |
| title | The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study |
| title_full | The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study |
| title_fullStr | The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study |
| title_full_unstemmed | The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study |
| title_short | The impact of early direct-contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists: A pilot study |
| title_sort | impact of early direct contact experiences on reducing mental health stigma among student pharmacists a pilot study |
| topic | serious mental illness stigma experiential education pharmacy student psychiatry mental health |
| url | https://theijpt.org/doi/pdf/10.9740/mhc.2024.02.073 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT amberrtranbs theimpactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT saumyaaapatelbs theimpactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT lindseyjloerapharmd theimpactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT tawnysmithpharmdbcpp theimpactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT samanthacatanzanopharmdbcpp theimpactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT amberrtranbs impactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT saumyaaapatelbs impactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT lindseyjloerapharmd impactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT tawnysmithpharmdbcpp impactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy AT samanthacatanzanopharmdbcpp impactofearlydirectcontactexperiencesonreducingmentalhealthstigmaamongstudentpharmacistsapilotstudy |