Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Can A Clinical Placement Influence Stigma? An Analysis Of Measures Of Social Distance, Lorna Moxham, Ellie K. Taylor, Christopher F. Patterson, Dana J. Perlman, Renee M. Brighton, Susan Liersch, Emily Keough, Tim Heffernan

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background The way people who experience mental illness are perceived by health care professionals, which often includes stigmatising attitudes, can have a significant impact on treatment outcomes and on their quality of life. Objective To determine whether stigma towards people with mental illness varied for undergraduate nursing students who attended a non-traditional clinical placement called Recovery Camp compared to students who attended a 'typical' mental health clinical placement. Design Quasi-experimental. Participants Seventy-nine third-year nursing students were surveyed; n = 40 attended Recovery Camp (intervention), n = 39 (comparison group) attended a 'typical' mental health clinical placement. Methods All students completed …