LEARNING FROM LIVED EXPERIENCE: TACKLING STIGMA

Background: Stigma/prejudice impacts individuals with mental health concerns. Healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards these individuals are not substantially more accepting than those of the public (Krupa, 2008). We were... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
Stigma/prejudice impacts individuals with mental health concerns. Healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards these individuals are not substantially more accepting than those of the public (Krupa, 2008). We were interested in whether contact-based stigma reduction initiatives could impact occupational therapy (OT) student attitudes towards persons with mental health concerns.
Educational Philosophy or theory:
Transformative learning
Pedagogy / educational approach(es) used:
Two similar but not identical initiatives were undertaken in two universities. In both, mental health course instructors recruited persons with lived experience of mental health concerns as paid co-instructors. These “client-educators”(C-E’s) worked with small groups of OT students. In one setting, students conducted a semi-structured narrative interview, working together to create a presentation that shared this person’s story with their classmates. In the other, C-E’s shared their stories, students conducted and interpreted assessments, and developed presentations summarizing the individuals’ story, assessment findings, and suggestions addressing individual concerns.
Evaluation:
Students completed the Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) (Kassam et al. 2012) before and after their work. At the first site, there was a statistically significant change towards less stigmatizing attitudes as measured by the OMS-HC at the end of class and 3 months later. At the second site this change is also suggested, although the number of respondents was small.
Application to Education and /or practice:
Initiatives like these could increase the likelihood that persons with mental health concerns will encounter more positive attitudes from occupational therapists, where therapists are part of the solution, not the problem (Krupa, 2008).