Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T03:05:42.989Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Public Education for Community Care

A New Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Geoffrey Wolff ,
Soumitra Pathare ,
Tom Craig  and
Julian Leff
Geoffrey Wolff*
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry
Soumitra Pathare
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, St Thomas's Hospital, UMDS
Tom Craig
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, St Thomas's Hospital, UMDS
Julian Leff
Affiliation:
MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre (Social Psychiatry Section), Institute of Psychiatry
*
Dr Geoffrey Wolff, MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre (Social Psychiatry Section), Institute of Psychiatry, DeCrespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The findings from a controlled study of the effect of a public education campaign on community attitudes to mentally ill people are presented.

Method

A census of neighbours' attitudes toward mental illness was conducted in two areas before the opening of supported houses for the mentally ill. In one area an educational campaign was conducted The attitude survey was then repeated in both areas and patients' social contact with neighbours was recorded.

Results

Respondents exposed to the didactic component of the campaign showed only a small increase in knowledge about mental illness but there was a lessening of fearful and rejecting attitudes in the experimental area and not in the control area Neighbours in the experimental area were more likely to make social contact with both staff and patients. It was social contact which was directly associated with improved attitudes rather than education per se. Patients in the experimental area made contact and even friendships with neighbours whereas those in the control area did not.

Conclusions

The public education campaign did not lead to significant changes in neighbours' knowledge of mental illness. However, their attitudes improved and patients' social integration was enhanced.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 168 , Issue 4 , April 1996 , pp. 441 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allport, G. W. (1954) The Nature of Prejudice. New York: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Berkowitz, R., Shavit, N. & Leff, J. P. (1990) Educating relatives of schizophrenic patients. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 25, 216–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cumming, E. & Cumming, J. (1957) Closed Ranks – An Experiment in Mental Health Education. Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, M., O'Driscoll, C., Dayson, D., et al (1990) The TAPS Project. 4: An observational study of the social life of long-stay patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 842–848.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gatherer, A. & Reid, J. J. A. (1963) Public Attitudes and Mental Health Education. Northamptonshire Mental Health Project.Google Scholar
Lewin, K. (1952) Group decision and social change. In Readings in Social Psychology (eds Swanston, G., Newcomb, T. & Hartley, E.). New York: Henry Holt & Co.Google Scholar
Marks, J. (1994) The re-emergence of antipsychiatry. Hospital Update, 20, 187–190.Google Scholar
Norusis, M. J. (1988) SPSS/PC + V2.0 Base Manual. Chicago: SPSS Inc.Google Scholar
Olmsted, M. S. (1959) The Small Group. New York: Random House.Google Scholar
Taylor, M. S. & Dear, M. J. (1981) Scaling community attitudes toward the mentally ill. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 7, 225–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wolff, G., Pathare, S., Craig, T., et al (1996a) Who's in the lions' den? The community's perception of community care for the mentally ill. Psychiatric Bulletin, 20, 68–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolff, G., Pathare, S., Craig, T., et al (1996b) Community attitudes to mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 183–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolff, G., Pathare, S., Craig, T., et al (1996c) Community knowledge of mental illness and reaction to mentally ill people. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 191–198.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wykes, T. & Sturt, E. (1986) The measurement of social behaviour in psychiatric patients: an assessment of the reliability and validity of the SBS schedule. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.