Can We Talk?

Abstract

To facilitate the recovery of people with mental illness (consumers of mental health services), social workers must be strengths-focused and believe in the potential for consumer growth and improvement. Unfortunately, social workers often share the negative, stigmatizing view of mental illness held by much of the general population. In this article, the authors describe a facilitated dialogue process between consumers and master's level social work students that had a goal of positively shifting students' attitudes towards consumers. Pre/post-tests using standardised instruments, as well as post-dialogue semi-structured interviews, showed that the dialogue was effective in improving student attitudes towards consumers.

Mental health consumer participation in education: a structured literature review

“…The most commonly reported outcome area is improved attitudes and reduced stigma (Bell, Johns & Chen, ; Happell & Roper, ; Happell et al ., ; Nguyen, Chen & O'Reilly, ; O'Reilly et al ., ; Scheyett & Kim, ). Although most authors only measure outcomes in a single group, Wood and Wahl's () finding of improved attitudes following a consumer‐led education session was strengthened by the use of a control group.…”

Bachelor of Social Work Students and Mental Health Stigma: Understanding Student Attitudes

“…Research has demonstrated that the attitudes and beliefs of mental health professionals toward clients can have a direct effect on the quality of the worker-client relationship and service out comes (Eack & Newhill, 2008;O'Connell & Stein, 2011;Scheyett & Kim, 2004;Schulze, 2007). Negative attitudes toward and low expectations of seriously mentally ill clients limit the abilities of professionals to develop effective working partnerships with those clients (Bentley, Farmer, & Phillips, 1991).…”

“…Some studies address levels of severity or specific disorders (Covarrubias & Han, 2011;Eack & Newhill, 2008;Newhill & Korr, 2004;Rao et al, 2009), whereas others discuss mental illness in more general terms (Church, Baldwin, Brannen, & Clements, 2009;Gordon, Tantillo, Feldman, & Perrone, 2004;Lauber, Nordt, Braunschweig, & Rossler, 2006;Scheyett & Kim, 2004;Spagnolo, Murphy, & Librera, 2008). For purposes of this study, mental illness is used as a general term that is meant to encompass a broad range of mental and emotional conditions.…”

A Community Based Experience to Enhance Occupational Therapy Student Clinical Skills with Clients with Mental Illness

“…Clients with mental illness benefit by participating in assessments and interventions designed to increase their chances of achieving independent living (Arbesman & Logsdon, 2011). A small study evaluating the benefits of social work students engaging with the mental health population noted that clients felt a sense of pride in being able to assist in the educational experience of the students (Scheyett & Kim, 2004). In a similar study with nursing students, clients reported benefiting from engagement in communitybased learning experiences through the opportunity to provide feedback on the student's performance and contribute to the student's learning experience.…”