A Study to Assess The Effectiveness of Video Assisted Teaching Program on Knowledge Regarding Refractive Errors Among School Going Children In Selected Schools at Bangalore

INTRODUCTION

Stigma is a word of Greek origin meaning a mark made on the skin with a hot iron, generating a mark or sign on the body. This concept was introduced in social sciences defined as an attribute that degrades and demeans the person carrying it³ . The manifestations of stigma are given by stereotypes, prejudices and emotions⁴ .

Mental health-related stigma is a complex phenomenon where, three interacting levels have been differentiated: structural stigma, internalized stigma and social stigma³ . Mental health-related stigma is present in society and among health professionals so the new type of stigma is introducing as associative stigma which refers to stigma related to the practice of the mental health profession⁵ .

Stigma is one of the main barriers for quality mental health care and it takes diverse appearance in different forms⁵ .

Stigma is when someone views you in a negative way because you have a distinguishing characteristic or personal trait that's thought to be, or actually is, a negative stereotype. Unfortunately, negative attitudes and beliefs toward people who have a mental health condition are common. Stigma = stereotyping ¨ prejudice ¨ discrimination⁶ .

Stigma can lead to discrimination. Discrimination may be obvious and direct, such as someone making a negative remark about your mental illness or your treatment. such as someone avoiding you because the person assumes you could be unstable, violent or dangerous due to your mental illness. Department of Health (2004) funded a program called Shift, which aimed to reduce the discrimination that those with mental ill health face. They found that “many people with mental health problems say that the biggest barrier to getting back on their feet is not the symptoms of illness, but the attitudes of other people”⁶ .

There are three types of mental health stigma: social stigma is characterized by prejudicial attitudes and discriminating behaviour directed towards individuals with mental health problems as a result of the psychiatric problem they have. Perceived stigma or self-stigma is the internalizing by the mental health sufferer of their perceptions of discrimination and perceived stigma can significantly affect feelings of shame and lead to poorer treatment outcomes. Associative stigma is characterized by negative attitude of health personnel towards mentally ill patient⁷ .

Stigma can pervade the lives of people with mental health problems in many different ways. According to Corrigan (2004), it “diminishes selfesteem and robs people of social opportunities”. This can include being denied opportunities such as employment or accommodation because of their illness⁸ .

Social stigma associated with mental health problems raised due to early beliefs such as demonic or spirit possession, mentally ill patient is treated differently, excluded and even brutalized. This treatment may come from the misguided that would almost certainly give rise to reactions of caution, fear and discrimination⁹ .

Stigma worsens a person’s illness and can lead to reluctance to seek necessary help. Families are also affected by stigma, leading to a lack of disclosure and support. For mental health professionals, stigma means that they themselves are seen as abnormal, corrupt or evil, and psychiatric treatments are often viewed with suspicion and horror¹⁰.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A Non-Experimental Descriptive design, descriptive approach was adopted. The main study was conducted among staff nurses working at KLE Centenary Charitable Hospital, Yellur among 60 staff nurses. Non probability; Convenient Sampling Technique was used to select sample for the study. Mental Illness: Clinician’s Attitudes Scale (MICA) developed at the Health Services and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London which consist of 16 items were selected for the study. Main study data was conducted from 11/07/19 to 15/07/19 and analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Ethical Issues

Ethical Clearance was obtained from the research and ethics review committee of the institute. Informed written consent was obtained from all the participants, after explaining the objectives of the study.

RESULTS

Majority participants 34 (56.7%) belongs to the age group of 20-25 years and minority 3 (5%) of participants belongs to age group of 35-40 years. Majority 34 (56.7%) were female and remaining 26 (43.3%) of participants were male. Majority participants 32 (53.3%) belongs to nuclear family and minority 28 (46.7%) of participants belongs to joint family. Majority of participants 35 (58.3%) are Hindu, and very less number of participants 10 (16.7%) are Christian. According to qualification, Majority of participants 22 (36.7%) have completed GNM Nursing and Minority of them 2 (3.3%) have completed MSc Nursing. Majority of participants 16 (26.7%) were working in ICU department and minority of them 6 (10%) were working in psychiatric department. (Table 1)

Fig-1 Shows that Majority of staff nurses 52 (86.7%) had positive attitude towards mental illness, and 8 (13.3%) had negative attitude towards mental illness.

Table 2, reveals that the mean value of stigma related to mental health score was 46, the standard deviation was 9.5

The study reveals that there was statistically significant association found between stigma scores with working area. (Table 3)

DISCUSSION

This study aimed to assess stigma related to mental illness and to find out association between stigma scores of staff nurses with selected demographic variables at selected tertiary care hospital of Belagavi. The result shows majority of staff nurses 52 (86.7%) had positive attitude towards mental illness, and 8 (13.3%) had negative attitude towards mental illness.

The mean score of the stigma related to mental illness was 46, median and mode stigma score was 44 and 42, standard deviation was 9.5 and range was 41.

Association between stigma score of staff nurses and the socio demographic variables was computed by using chi-square(x2) test. The calculated chi-square value is 18.87 for working area of staff nurses is significant at p<0.05 level whereas chi-square value of all other selected variables is not significant at p<0.05 level which indicates that working area of staff nurse is associated to stigma score and others variables age, gender, religion, type of family, qualification of staff nurses is not associated with stigma score.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study concluded that Nurses’ attitudes towards people with mental illness were generally positive. The nurses mostly reported willingness to help and feelings of concern and sympathy towards these patients. Higher confidence in nursing staff could ensure a skilled work force in areas of mental health in the future; prevent young nurses from developing a fear of patients at work and support positive attitudes towards patients with mentalproblem