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Attitudes of general hospital staff towards patients who self-harm in South India: A cross-sectional study
Kumar, Narendra Rajendra, Rajagopal Majgi, Sumanth M. Krishna, Murali Keenan, Paul Jones, Steven
Kumar, Narendra
Rajendra, Rajagopal
Majgi, Sumanth M.
Krishna, Murali
Keenan, Paul
Jones, Steven
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Publication Date
2016-11-30
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Abstract
Background: There is growing global interest into the attitudes and clinical management of persons who deliberately
self-harm. People who self-harm experience many problems and typically have many needs related to management
of their psychological wellbeing. A positive attitude amongst general hospital staff should prevail with people who
self-harm. The principal purpose was to determine student staff attitudes towards patients who self-harmed from a
professional and cultural perspective, which might influence patient treatment following hospital admission. The focus
concentrated upon staff knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding self-harm. Methods: A cross sectional survey of the
hospital staff using a validated questionnaire was carried out. This paper reports on interdisciplinary staff from two
large general hospitals in Mysuru, South India (n=773). Results: Findings suggest that within a general hospital setting
there is wide variation in staff attitudes and knowledge levels related to self-harm. Whilst there is attitudinal evidence
for staff attitudes, this study investigates interprofessional differences in an attempt to progress treatment approaches
to a vulnerable societal group. Very few staff had any training in assessment of self harm survivors. Conclusion: There
is an urgent need for training general hospital staff in self harm assessment and prevention in south India. The results
allow a series of recommendations for educational and skills initiatives before progressing to patient assessment and
treatment projects and opens potential for cross cultural comparison studies. In addition, interventions must focus on
current resources and contexts to move the evidence base and approaches to patient care forward.
Citation
Kumar, N., Rajendra, R., Majgi, S. .M., Krishna, M., Keenan, P. & Jones, S. (2016). Attitudes of general hospital staff towards patients who self-harm in South India: A cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 38(6), 547–552
Publisher
Medknow
Journal
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine
Research Unit
DOI
10.4103/0253-7176.194920
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
en
Description
Series/Report no.
ISSN
0253-7176
EISSN
0975-1564