Does Education Improve Mental Health Practitioners’ Confidence in Meeting the Physical Health Needs of Mental Health Service Users? A Mixed Methods Pilot Study

Abstract

Mental health nurses are ideally placed to assess mental health service users' physical health and provide relevant interventions. However, they may lack the confidence and knowledge to do so, as a result of limited education on physical health issues. This mixed methods pilot study sought to evaluate the effect of education on confidence in assessing and addressing physical health needs following attendance at a module entitled "Physical health issues in adult mental Health practice." An explanatory sequential design was used in which quantitative data regarding participants' perceptions of their confidence on assessing and addressing physical health issues with service users were collected via a questionnaire pre- and post-module. Additionally, a focus group interview was conducted to expand on survey responses. Findings indicated that confidence scores increased for all participants following the module, with participants identifying new knowledge and plans for practice change. Further research is needed to educate and support mental health staff in improving their confidence and knowledge in this area.

Facilitating knowledge of mental health nurses to undertake physical health interventions: a pre-test/post-test evaluation

“…Worthy of further consideration is that virtually all participants rated themselves to be 'very satisfied' or 'satisfied' with the workshops. This concords with research conducted by Terry and Cutter (2013) who undertook and pre-test and post-test analysis of MHNs undertaking a postgraduate module on physical health interventions. Satisfaction with education experience has been highlighted as a motivating factor for nurses working with mental health service users, and this in turn improves their therapeutic optimism (Edward et al 2011a, Hemingway et al 2013b).…”

Mental health clinician attitudes to the provision of preventive care for chronic disease risk behaviours and association with care provision

“…The positive association results are consistent with previous research undertaken within Canadian community mental health care workers [ 26 ] and UK psychiatric inpatient nurses [ 27 ], whereby attitudes regarding role congruence, confidence in care provision, and client interest were associated with the self-reported provision of preventive care. Training and educational resources have been found to improve clinician attitudes and confidence towards providing physical health care to people with a mental illness [ 54 , 61 ], and the current results suggest that such strategies addressing negative attitudes may be required to increase preventive care provision.…”

The Validity and Reliability Characteristics of the M-BACK Questionnaire to Assess the Barriers, Attitudes, Confidence, and Knowledge of Mental Health Staff Regarding Metabolic Health of Mental Health Service Users

“…Findings from that review indicated that the attitudes of clinical staff toward providing metabolic health care in mental health settings was integral to the successful delivery of such services ( 14 , 15 , 19 , 27 , 28 ). Another common finding was a low level of confidence among mental health staff in carrying out recommended metabolic health monitoring and delivering interventions ( 15 , 16 , 18 , 32 ), in addition to a lack of knowledge in this area ( 15 , 33 , 34 ). Other consistent barriers to staff delivering metabolic care were workload, concerns regarding medication adherence, perceived apathy on the part of a service user or a sense of hopelessness from a staff member ( 15 , 16 , 18 , 19 , 27 , 28 , 33 – 35 ).…”