WHEN USERS PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH: CHANGES IN STIGMA IN A COHORT OF ITALIAN STUDENTS Background: The phenomenon of mental health stigma is widely present worldwide and has been demonstrated to represent an obstacle for psychiatric patients’ rehabilitation and socialization, besides being often responsible for the fact that many individuals affected by mental illness(es) do not seek medical advice. Objective: The study aims at evaluating the presence of changes, if any, in the stigma levels of the control population (high school students from Pavia) after three meetings, during which psychiatric patients had the opportunity to discuss with the students and share their own experiences. Methods: We administered an Italian version of the CAMI scale that has been validated in order to assess, through four parameters (authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, community mental health ideology), the level of discrimination and prejudice the compiler has towards the subject affected by a mental illness. The questionnaire was administered anonymously to a total of 216 students, before and after the meetings, in order to detect any possible differences in score secondary to the sessions with the psychiatric patients. Results: Negative scores (authoritarianism and social restrictiveness) decreased. Positive scores (benevolence and community mental health ideology) increased. These differences turned out to be statistically significant. Conclusions: This study shows that the impact of territorial interventions, in particular on young people, is very important in reducing the stigma towards mentally ill patients. Given the results after a specific short-term intervention, projects involving a greater number of meetings are recommended in order to evaluate the possibility of reducing the stigma even more.
QUANDO GLI UTENTI PROMUOVONO LA SALUTE MENTALE: CAMBIAMENTI NELLA STIGMATIZZAZIONE IN UNA COORTE DI STUDENTI ITALIANI Introduzione: Il fenomeno dello stigma nei confronti di persone con disturbi mentali è ampiamente presente in tutto il mondo ed è stato dimostrato che rappresenti un ostacolo alla riabilitazione e alla socializzazione dei pazienti psichiatrici, oltre ad essere spesso responsabile del fatto che molti non chiedono consulenza medica. Obiettivo: Lo studio si propone di valutare eventuali cambiamenti nei livelli di stigma di studenti delle scuole superiori di Pavia a seguito di tre incontri, durante i quali utenti del servizio psichiatrico hanno avuto modo di confrontarsi con gli studenti e condividere le proprie esperienze. Metodi: E’ stata somministrata la versione in italiano del questionario CAMI ai fini di valutare, attraverso l’analisi di quattro parametri (autoritarismo, benevolenza, restrittivi sociale, idea comunitaria della salute mentale), il livello di discriminazione e pregiudizio del compilatore nei confronti di chi è affetto da disturbi mentali. Tale questionario è stato somministrato a 216 studenti, sia prima sia dopo gli incontri, per valutare eventuali differenze nel punteggio a seguito delle sessioni con gli utenti del servizio psichiatrico. Risultati: I punteggi negativi (autoritarismo e restrittività sociale) sono diminuiti, mentre i punteggi positivi (benevolenza e idea comunitaria della salute mentale) sono aumentati. Tali difference sono statisticamente significative. Conclusioni: Lo studio dimostra che l’impatto di interventi territoriali, in particolare sui giovani, si rivela essere molto importante ai fini della riduzione dello stigma nei confronti di persone con disturbi mentali. Visti i risultati dopo un intervento di breve durata, si raccomanda la realizzazione di progetti con un maggior numero di incontri con lo scopo di ridurre ancora di più lo stigm
WHEN USERS PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH: CHANGES IN STIGMA IN A COHORT OF ITALIAN STUDENTS
CICUTTIN, RODRIGO
2019/2020
Abstract
WHEN USERS PROMOTE MENTAL HEALTH: CHANGES IN STIGMA IN A COHORT OF ITALIAN STUDENTS Background: The phenomenon of mental health stigma is widely present worldwide and has been demonstrated to represent an obstacle for psychiatric patients’ rehabilitation and socialization, besides being often responsible for the fact that many individuals affected by mental illness(es) do not seek medical advice. Objective: The study aims at evaluating the presence of changes, if any, in the stigma levels of the control population (high school students from Pavia) after three meetings, during which psychiatric patients had the opportunity to discuss with the students and share their own experiences. Methods: We administered an Italian version of the CAMI scale that has been validated in order to assess, through four parameters (authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, community mental health ideology), the level of discrimination and prejudice the compiler has towards the subject affected by a mental illness. The questionnaire was administered anonymously to a total of 216 students, before and after the meetings, in order to detect any possible differences in score secondary to the sessions with the psychiatric patients. Results: Negative scores (authoritarianism and social restrictiveness) decreased. Positive scores (benevolence and community mental health ideology) increased. These differences turned out to be statistically significant. Conclusions: This study shows that the impact of territorial interventions, in particular on young people, is very important in reducing the stigma towards mentally ill patients. Given the results after a specific short-term intervention, projects involving a greater number of meetings are recommended in order to evaluate the possibility of reducing the stigma even more.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/11606