Educating healthcare professionals to act on the physical health needs of people with serious mental illness: A systematic search for evidence

Hardy, S.; White, J.; Deane, K.; Gray, Richard

Abstract

Accessible summary: All healthcare professionals caring for people with serious mental illness should be aware of the signs of physical problems and take action to help patients improve their health. Our objective is to develop education for healthcare professionals caring for people with serious mental illness to enable them all to offer better physical care. We performed a systematic search of the literature and found no papers reporting the outcomes of education with regard to healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. The only information reported was the effect of the action taken on patients. It is vital that researchers start to publish details of healthcare professional education and their outcomes in physical health research in serious mental illness. Healthcare professionals in primary and secondary care should monitor the physical health of people with serious mental illness, yet in practice this does not appear to be a routine intervention. Our objective is to develop evidence-based training for healthcare professionals to enable them all to offer better physical care to this population. We performed a systematic search with the aim of evaluating the current evidence of the efficacy of education interventions. Search terms covered Severe Mental Illness, Physical Health and Education. The search yielded 147 papers, of which none were eligible for inclusion. A number of studies were excluded from this review as although there was an implicit education package provided to healthcare professionals, no information was reported on the outcomes of this education with regard to healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. The only information that these studies provided was patient-specific outcomes. It is vital that researchers start to publish details of healthcare professional education and their outcomes in physical health and serious mental illness research. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing.

Citation

Hardy, S., White, J., Deane, K., & Gray, R. (2011). Educating healthcare professionals to act on the physical health needs of people with serious mental illness: A systematic search for evidence. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 18(8), 721-727. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01722.x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2011
• Journal: Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
• Print ISSN: 1351-0126
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2850
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 721-727
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01722.x
• Keywords: dissemination, nurse education, physical health, primary care, secondary care, severe mental illness
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/964363
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01722.x