Healthcare curriculum influences on stigma towards mental illness: Core psychiatry course impact on pharmacy, nursing and social work student attitudes.

Background And Purpose: Attitudes towards disclosure of a psychiatric diagnosis and directed at persons with mental illness have represented negativity and stigma. The purpose of this study was to identify stigma towards mental illness among health profession students in pharmacy, nursing, and social work programs, and identify if primary psychiatric coursework in each curriculum has an impact on students' perceptions.

Educational Activity And Setting: Pharmacy, nursing and social work students were surveyed pre- and post-primary didactic psychiatry coursework (pre-course = 154 total; 95 pharmacy, 47 nursing, 12 social work; post-course = 128 total; 79 pharmacy, 38 nursing, and 11 social work) using the Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC).

Developing a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program with multiple health professions programs.

Substance use is a major public health concern in the United States; only a fraction of people needing treatment for substance use receive care. Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) training is one strategy to increase the identification and treatment of substance use. Integrated approaches to SBIRT delivery assure that every patient will be screened regardless of when and how they enter the healthcare system.