Marthoenis Marthoenis, Fitryasari Rizki, Warsini Sri
Dept. of Psychiatry and Mental Health Nursing, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
Faculty of Nursing Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
Indian J Psychol Med. 2024 Dec 23:02537176241306137. doi: 10.1177/02537176241306137.
Mental health literacy among lay community health workers (CHWs) is crucial to ensuring that mental health services are accessible to all. This research explores the mental health literacy of community health workers in Indonesia.
A cross-sectional study was carried out among 454 female community health workers from various villages. Their understanding of mental illness was assessed through questionnaires, exploring their overall belief about the cause and consequence of mental illness, the symptom and the treatment of mental illness, and their perception of relapse.
Most participants have false beliefs about the causes and consequences of mental illness. For instance, the majority of respondents agreed that severe stress leads to mental illness (80%), while 60.4% believed personal weakness to be a cause. Cognitive impairments and brain disease were associated with mental illness by 67.2% and 57.3%, respectively, although only 32.6% attributed it to hereditary factors. Regarding treatment, 83.9% of respondents believed that consistent medication could fully cure mental disorders, while 81.1% associated mental illness with strange behavior. Additionally, 90.7% of respondents emphasized the importance of regular medication to prevent relapse, with 81.5% stating that lack of medication leads to relapse.
A significant level of misinformation and misconception among participants regarding mental illness was unveiled. This misunderstanding can contribute to the stigmatization of individuals experiencing stress, as it may lead to unwarranted assumptions about their mental health. These findings underscore the importance of targeted mental health education campaigns to address misconceptions.
非专业社区卫生工作者的心理健康素养对于确保所有人都能获得心理健康服务至关重要。本研究探讨了印度尼西亚社区卫生工作者的心理健康素养。
对来自不同村庄的454名女性社区卫生工作者进行了横断面研究。通过问卷调查评估她们对精神疾病的理解，探究她们对精神疾病的病因、后果、症状、治疗以及复发的总体看法。
大多数参与者对精神疾病的病因和后果存在错误认知。例如，大多数受访者认为严重压力会导致精神疾病（80%），而60.4%的人认为个人弱点是一个原因。分别有67.2%和57.3%的人将认知障碍和脑部疾病与精神疾病联系起来，尽管只有32.6%的人将其归因于遗传因素。关于治疗，83.9%的受访者认为持续用药可以完全治愈精神障碍，而81.1%的人将精神疾病与奇怪行为联系起来。此外，90.7%的受访者强调定期用药对预防复发的重要性，81.5%的人表示停药会导致复发。
研究揭示了参与者对精神疾病存在大量错误信息和误解。这种误解可能会导致对经历压力的人的污名化，因为它可能会导致对他们心理健康的无端猜测。这些发现强调了开展有针对性的心理健康教育活动以消除误解的重要性。
