Abstract
The benefits of public knowledge towards physical health are widely accepted but the area of mental health literacy remains undervalued and relatively neglected. The study aimed to identify caregivers' mental health literacy in Malaysia. There were 154 family caregivers participated in the face-to-face semi-structured interview regarding their personal caring experiences. This study found that majority of the caregivers was women aged less than 60 years. Most of the caregivers have some understanding about their relatives' mental illness. More than half of the participants found that the doctors were considered as their primary source of information about mental health. Consistent with previous literature in Malaysia, most of the caregivers used religious and traditional coping mechanism in their help-seeking processes. Each ethnic group had their own strong cultural beliefs about mental illness. The implications for mental health services are that many of the caregivers need help to educate their family members about mental illness. While this study emphasized on the family members who should be targeted to improve mental health literacy it also become significant to the public to reduce stigma towards the person with mental illness and their family.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 74-82 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Asian Social Science |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2012 |
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Keywords
- Caregiver
- Family
- Malaysian
- Mental health literacy
- Schizophrenia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Sciences(all)
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
Cite this
Mental health literacy among family caregivers of schizophrenia patients. / Mohamad, Mohd Suhaimi; Zabidah, P.; Ibrahim, Fauziah; Sarnon @ Kusenin, Norulhuda.
In: Asian Social Science, Vol. 8, No. 9, 07.2012, p. 74-82.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Mental health literacy among family caregivers of schizophrenia patients
AU - Mohamad, Mohd Suhaimi
AU - Zabidah, P.
AU - Ibrahim, Fauziah
AU - Sarnon @ Kusenin, Norulhuda
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - The benefits of public knowledge towards physical health are widely accepted but the area of mental health literacy remains undervalued and relatively neglected. The study aimed to identify caregivers' mental health literacy in Malaysia. There were 154 family caregivers participated in the face-to-face semi-structured interview regarding their personal caring experiences. This study found that majority of the caregivers was women aged less than 60 years. Most of the caregivers have some understanding about their relatives' mental illness. More than half of the participants found that the doctors were considered as their primary source of information about mental health. Consistent with previous literature in Malaysia, most of the caregivers used religious and traditional coping mechanism in their help-seeking processes. Each ethnic group had their own strong cultural beliefs about mental illness. The implications for mental health services are that many of the caregivers need help to educate their family members about mental illness. While this study emphasized on the family members who should be targeted to improve mental health literacy it also become significant to the public to reduce stigma towards the person with mental illness and their family.
AB - The benefits of public knowledge towards physical health are widely accepted but the area of mental health literacy remains undervalued and relatively neglected. The study aimed to identify caregivers' mental health literacy in Malaysia. There were 154 family caregivers participated in the face-to-face semi-structured interview regarding their personal caring experiences. This study found that majority of the caregivers was women aged less than 60 years. Most of the caregivers have some understanding about their relatives' mental illness. More than half of the participants found that the doctors were considered as their primary source of information about mental health. Consistent with previous literature in Malaysia, most of the caregivers used religious and traditional coping mechanism in their help-seeking processes. Each ethnic group had their own strong cultural beliefs about mental illness. The implications for mental health services are that many of the caregivers need help to educate their family members about mental illness. While this study emphasized on the family members who should be targeted to improve mental health literacy it also become significant to the public to reduce stigma towards the person with mental illness and their family.
KW - Caregiver
KW - Family
KW - Malaysian
KW - Mental health literacy
KW - Schizophrenia
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84864660433&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5539/ass.v8n9p74
DO - 10.5539/ass.v8n9p74
M3 - Article
VL - 8
SP - 74
EP - 82
JO - Asian Social Science
JF - Asian Social Science
SN - 1911-2017
IS - 9
ER -