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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

Reducing mental health stigma in nursing education: effects of a contact-based educational intervention

Reducing mental health stigma in nursing education: effects of an interaction-based training

Contact-based anti-stigma education produced a statistically significant change in nursing students’ attitudes toward mental illness (p = 0.003).

People with mental illness experience stigma and discrimination from both society and healthcare professionals, and are attributed negative characteristics such as being threatening, aggressive, irrational, and dangerous; an analysis of the current situation indicates that anti-stigma interventions are insufficiently incorporated into the framework curriculum for nursing education in Germany. This study therefore aimed to integrate anti-stigma interventions into the curriculum and evaluate their effectiveness; previous findings suggest that these interventions are most effective when conducted in collaboration with those affected. The study used a mixed-methods design; a contact-based educational intervention for nursing students was examined quantitatively using the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) in a pre–post design, and qualitatively through group interviews exploring students’ subjective perceptions. The quantitative evaluation found a statistically significant effect of the contact-based educational intervention (p = 0.003). The qualitative data showed that students engaged in a substantial process of reflection on stigmatization and immediately put stigma-reduction measures into practice; students emphasized the urgent need for such interventions at the beginning of their training. According to the authors, contact-based education can make a significant contribution to reducing mental illness stigma among nursing students and is hypothesized to reduce fears and uncertainties regarding clinical placements in psychiatric settings; additional interventions tailored to different target groups need to be implemented and rigorously evaluated.

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