Attitudes Towards Psychiatry Among Physiotherapy Students in Poland – pilot Study

Abstract

Poor knowledge regarding mental health in general population in Poland, along with media coverage limited to repetition of harmful stereotypes towards patients treated at psychiatric wards and reinforcement of discriminative attitudes, results in an unfair evaluation and stigmatization of mental healthcare services. As a consequence, psychiatry, in comparison to many other medical fields, is unpopular among physiotherapy students, even though there is a compulsory subject in the university curriculum that covers, in theory, all the important knowledge that healthcare worker should possess in this regards. Young physical therapists are not taught about specific needs of the psychiatric patients. After graduation, they are lacking all basic skills on how to communicate with the patient. Being devoid of a direct contact with people suffering from mental disorders, physical therapists do not feel comfortable placed in the mental healthcare facilities. The aim of the study was to assess the extent of a basic psychiatric knowledge and general attitudes towards mentally ill of the physiotherapy students. The group consisted of 147 students. The pilot study has been limited to those studying physical therapy within borders of the Opole voivodship. Authors’ questionnaire has been developed in order to reach the aim and answers were gathered between January and June 2016. The results will be used to develop questionnaire suitable to share with physiotherapy students within the whole country and, consequently, formulate recommendations on necessary changes that must be introduced to the physical therapy curriculum in Poland by Polish Society of Physiotherapy (Psychiatry Section).

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.