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Published in: Community Mental Health Journal 6/2015

01-08-2015 | Brief Report

Does Postgraduate Training in Community Mental Health Make a Difference to Primary Care Physicians’ Attitudes to Depression and Schizophrenia?

Authors: Tai Pong Lam, Kwok Fai Lam, Edmund Wing Wo Lam, Kai Sing Sun

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 6/2015

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Abstract

This study investigated the differences in attitudes towards mental health patients between primary care physicians (PCPs) who have received postgraduate training in community mental health and those who have not. A questionnaire regarding the PCPs’ attitudes towards mental health care in general, and specifically on depression and schizophrenia, was designed to compare the attitudes between the PCPs with postgraduate training in community mental health (CMH group) and those without (non-CMH group). Besides having greater confidence in management, PCPs in the CMH group had less stigmatizing opinions towards the mental health patients than those in the non-CMH group. Differences between the two groups were mostly shown in the case for depression but not for schizophrenia. The proportion of PCPs who liked to have depressed patients on their practice list was significantly higher in the CMH group (94 vs 71 %), and their satisfaction rate in looking after depressed patients was also significantly higher than the non-CMH group (87 vs 59 %).
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Metadata
Title
Does Postgraduate Training in Community Mental Health Make a Difference to Primary Care Physicians’ Attitudes to Depression and Schizophrenia?
Authors
Tai Pong Lam
Kwok Fai Lam
Edmund Wing Wo Lam
Kai Sing Sun
Publication date
01-08-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 6/2015
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9829-9

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