Pharmacy Students' Preparedness to Communicate With Mental Health Disorders Patients

Pharmacy student attitudes to mental illness and the provision of mental health care: a repeated cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Attitudes to mental illness are an important factor in the willingness of professionals to engage in mental health care.

AIM

The aim of this study was to understand attitudes of undergraduate pharmacy students in Ireland to severe mental illness and the provision of medicines optimisation services as well as the variation in these attitudes throughout the undergraduate course.

METHOD

A survey instrument was compiled using existing published research and validated questionnaires. The survey was distributed to students in their first, third and Master of Pharmacy years annually between 2014 and 2019. Although designed as a longitudinal study, following the matching process there were a limited number of students who completed more than one survey and therefore data were treated as independent samples.

RESULTS

The overall average response rate was 25% per survey (n = 191 participants) Notwithstanding generally positive attitudes, a sizeable proportion of students felt people with severe depression and schizophrenia were hard to talk to (n = 48, 25.3%; n = 54, 29.2%) Less than half of MPharm students expressed confidence and competence in caring for people with more severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and 29% (n = 60) of students would feel awkward asking someone about their antipsychotic medication. Almost two thirds (n = 120, 63.8%) expressed an interest in a career in mental health.

CONCLUSION

Irish pharmacy students have generally positive attitudes towards people with severe mental illness and provision of medicines optimisation services. There is an opportunity to improve pharmacy graduates perceived competence and confidence to provide mental health services.

Mental Health First Aid training and assessment among university students: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To explore the literature describing the delivery and assessment of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training among university students.

DATA SOURCES

The databases MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, ERIC, and PsycINFO were searched to identify publications describing MHFA training and assessment among university students since 2000.

STUDY SELECTION

All studies, regardless of design, that described the delivery and assessment of MHFA training among university students, at any level, were included in this systematic review.

DATA EXTRACTION

The discipline and level of students; the version, length, and integration of MHFA training; and the constructs used to assess students post-MHFA training were extracted from each study.

RESULTS

Of the initial 1662 records, 12 were included. Eight studies were conducted in Australia, 3 in the United States, and 1 in the United Kingdom. Most students were enrolled in health care or social work degree programs across all years of their program with 4 studies involving pharmacy students. Three studies described integrating compulsory MHFA training for university students. Most studies reported on the delivery of the Standard or Adult version of MHFA training; no study reported on MHFA for Tertiary Students. Post-MHFA training, students were assessed on mental health knowledge, literacy, intentions, confidence, stigma, and skills application. Only 2 studies described assessment methods involving direct observation of behaviors, whereas the rest relied on self-reported measurements.

CONCLUSION

Despite the spread of MHFA to over 25 countries and the availability of tertiary student-specific training, the studies included in this systematic review were conducted in only 3 countries and mainly involved Standard and Adult MHFA training. Most assessments relied on self-reported measures. Future studies involving different versions of MHFA training, and the exploration of novel competency-based assessment methods among a diverse range of students from different countries are warranted.