Impact of a Neuropsychiatric Therapeutics Course and a Case-Based Course on Pharmacy Students' Mental Health Stigma.

Authors

Rajkumar Sevak, University of the PacificFollow
Celine M. Chandler, University of the PacificFollow
Michelle Liu, University of the PacificFollow
Adam M. Kaye, University of the PacificFollow
Robert F. Halliwell, University of the PacificFollow
Edward L. Rogan, University of the PacificFollow

ORCiD

Robert Halliwell: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0397-3740

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education

ISSN

1553-6467

Volume

87

Issue

9

DOI

10.1016/j.ajpe.2023.100125

First Page

1

Last Page

7

Publication Date

9-1-2023

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Mental health education can reduce the stigma held by medical and nursing students; however, findings in this regard are limited in pharmacy academia. This study investigated the impact of a neuropsychiatric therapeutics course followed by a case-based course on the mental health stigma held by pharmacy students.

METHODS: A survey was conducted of second-year pharmacy students (n = 202) on the first and last day of a neuropsychiatric therapeutics course and 4 months later, at the end of a case-based course. The questionnaires included the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for HealthCare Providers (OMS-HC) scale, Recovery scale, Empowerment scale, and Attribution Questionnaire (AQ-9). Omnibus Friedman tests evaluated the main effect of time, followed by Wilcoxon signed-rank post hoc tests to compare baseline and postcourse scores.

RESULTS: Friedman test outcomes showed significant main effects of Time for OMS-HC, Recovery, Empowerment, and AQ-9 scales. Post hoc analysis indicated that compared to the baseline scores, the scores on Recovery and Empowerment scales significantly increased, OMS-HC scores decreased, but AQ-9 scores did not change after the therapeutics course. Compared to the baseline, OMS-HC and AQ-9 scores decreased, Recovery scale score increased, but the Empowerment scale score did not change after the case-based course. The scores did not decrease further after the case-based course compared to those after the therapeutics course.

CONCLUSION: The decreases in OMS-HC and AQ-9 scores and increases in Recovery and Empowerment scores indicate reductions in mental health stigma. Stigma among students was overall reduced after the therapeutics course and this reduction was maintained after the case-based course.

Recommended Citation

Sevak, R., Chandler, C. M., Liu, M., Kaye, A. M., Halliwell, R. F., & Rogan, E. L. (2023). Impact of a Neuropsychiatric Therapeutics Course and a Case-Based Course on Pharmacy Students' Mental Health Stigma.. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 87(9), 1–7. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpe.2023.100125
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/phs-facarticles/696