Mental health knowledge and common misconceptions in a master of chiropractic final year cohort
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JMHTEP-09-2016-0045 |
| Pages | 150-160 |
| Date | 08 May 2017 |
| Published date | 08 May 2017 |
| Author | Madeleine Ferrari,Stephney Whillier |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Mental health education |
Mental health knowledge and common
misconceptions in a master of chiropractic
final year cohort
Madeleine Ferrari and Stephney Whillier
Abstract
Purpose –Given rising incidence rates of mental health concerns in the general population it is important for
all primary health care practitioners, including chiropractors, to have knowledge of such presentations.
Practitioners frequently need to refer clients to appropriate mental health services, manage the
biopsychosocial aspects of all conditions they treat, and work in interdisciplinary teams to ensure optimal
patient outcomes. The mental health literacy (MHL) of these practitioners may, however, be influenced by
both learnt knowledge and common misconceptions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the MHL of a
final year Master of Chiropractic student cohort.
Design/methodology/approach –In total, 89 students completed an online questionnaire assessing
mental health knowledge, misconceptions, perceived value of such knowledge for practicing chiropractors
and demographic information.
Findings –Student knowledge of the primary symptoms for depression and schizophrenia was competent,
similar to community samples. However a high false positive response suggested students were poor at
mental health differential diagnosis. A high number of common misconceptions about mental health were
also endorsed, particularly in relation to depression, anxiety and suicide. Age and value of such knowledge
seemed to predict greater MHL.
Research limitations/implications –The present study offers direction for chiropractic education.
In addition to content-based education, MHL may improve through targeting the students’perceived value of
the information for chiropractors and combating common misconceptions. Future research could evaluate
the incremental value of these approaches, and assess subsequent behavioural responses such as the
students’confidence in managing patients with mental health concerns, and knowing when to refer on.
Originality/value –Taken together, the current results suggest chiropractic students are able to identify
symptoms causing distress; however tend to over-pathologise and endorse false symptoms as indicative of
specific mental illnesses. In other words, students are poor at mental health differential diagnosis. Students
also seemed to simultaneously hold a large number of misconceptions about mental health in general. It is of
great importance to better understand gaps in student knowledge about mental health to prepare them for
working with patients in a health setting.
Keywords Mental health, Education, Health literacy, Chiropractic, Primary health care; Students
Paper type Research paper
Many primary health care providers, such as chiropractors, are exposed to various mental
illness presentations across diverse client populations. Research has found patients with
mental illness are increasingly accessing chiropractic services for many reasons, from managing
anxiety and depression symptoms to physical health conditions such as weight loss (Russinova
et al., 2002; Elkins et al., 2005). Often, and ever increasingly, it is the responsibility of the
chiropractor to identify and refer such clients to appropriate services, or work within a team that
provides medical and allied medical management of the client. Thus mental health literacy (MHL)
is an important element in a primary health care provider’s education and training. In addition to
identifying what specific knowledge primary health care providers have, such as the identification
of symptoms, it is also of interest to investigate the prevalence of misconceptions about mental
health. Misconceptions concerning human behaviour can have disastrous consequences such
Received 8 September 2016
Revised 17 November 2016
24 November 2016
Accepted 3 January 2017
Madeleine Ferrari is a Lecturer
at the School of Psychology,
Australian Catholic University,
Sydney, Australia.
Stephney Whillier is a Lecturer
at the Chiropractic Department,
Macquarie University, Ryde,
Australia.
PAGE150
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THE JOURNAL OF MENTALHEALTH TRAINING, EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
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VOL. 12 NO. 3 2017, pp.150-160, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1755-6228 DOI 10.1108/JMHTEP-09-2016-0045
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