Looking beyond Mental Health Stigma”

An Online Focus Group Study among Senior Undergraduate Nursing Students

Bibliographic Data

ID15468663
AuthorsOlga Valentim (0000-0002-2900-3972, Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto, corresponding author), Lídia Moutinho (0000-0001-5076-0612, Nursing Research, Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon), Carlos Laranjeira (0000-0003-1080-9535, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria), Arie Querido (0000-0002-5021-773X, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria), Catarina Tomás (0000-0002-9220-964X, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria), João José Rolo Longo (0000-0001-7462-9790, University of Lisbon), Daniel Carvalho (0000-0002-5307-7680, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria), João Gomes (0000-0002-3954-1977, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria), Tânia Morgado (0000-0001-9867-6321, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria), Tânia Correia (0000-0002-8160-5698, Escola Superior de Enfermagem do Porto)
Year2023
Volume20
Issue5
Pages4601-4601
Publication date2023-03-05
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph20054601
PMID36901609
OpenAlexW4323318015
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited23

Evidence highlights the need for professionals to be aware of their stigmatizing attitudes and discriminatory practices in order to minimize the negative impact on the people they take care of. However, nursing students' perceptions of these issues have been poorly studied. This study explores the perspective of senior undergraduate nursing students on mental health and the stigma around it, by considering a simulated case vignette of a person with a mental health problem. A descriptive qualitative approach was chosen and involved three online focus group discussions. The findings show various manifestations of stigma, both at an individual and collective level, which indicates that it is an obstacle to the wellbeing of people with mental illness. Individual manifestations of stigma concern its effect on the person with mental illness, while at the collective level they concern the family or society in general. Stigma is a multifactorial, multidimensional, and complex concept, in terms of identifying and fighting it. Thus, the strategies identified involve multiple approaches at the individual level, aimed at the patient and family, namely through education/training, communication, and relationship strategies. At the collective level, to intervene with the general population and specific groups, such as groups of young people, strategies suggested include education/training, use of the media, and contact with people with mental disorders as ways to fight stigma

Focus group · Mental health · Mental illness · Perception · Perspective (graphical · Population · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Stigma (botany · Vignette · Clinical Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Health, psychology, and well-being · Medicine · Mental Health Treatment and Access · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology

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