The experience of mental health literacy in health professionals in non-mental health areas

Some literature suggests that health professionals in acute medical care settings find the complex care of patients who experience mental and physical co-morbidities challenging and consequently the patient experience of care can be poor. A number of studies have investigated health professional's attitudes and perceptions however there is limited research that investigates the lived experience in a current healthcare context. The aim of this research was to explicate an in-depth description of the health professional's experience when caring for patients experiencing co-morbid physical and mental illness in acute medical care settings. A phenomenological design was undertaken with six participants representing nursing and medical disciplines. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were used and the data collected underwent thematic analysis using an extended version of Colaizzi's phenomenological inquiry. The areas that emerged were: managing challenging behaviours, optimising environmental factors, mental health skills and knowledge, and managing negative attitudes. These areas can be considered for extending mental health literacy of general health professionals