Effects of training on attitudes of psychiatric personnel towards patients who self‐injure

BACKGROUND Improving attitudes of personnel towards self-injurious patients leads to better working alliance and contributes to better patient outcomes. Previous research into the improvement of these attitudes has recorded the need for specific training in evidence-based assessment and treatment of self-injurious patients. AIM The current study describes the attitudes towards self-injurious patients among psychiatric personnel. The study also evaluates the effect of a structured clinical training program on psychiatric personnel's attitudes towards patients who self-injure. It further examines whether age, education, frequency of self-injurious patients contact, and work experience of the personnel are associated with the existing attitudes. METHODS Psychiatric personnel (N = 50) attended a four-day training program, presenting evidence-based knowledge regarding self-injury assessment and treatment, using group exercises and reflective learning principles. The personnel completed the Understanding Suicidal Patients Questionnaire (USP) anonymously PreTraining, on 17 January 2014, and PostTraining, on 20 June 2014. The mean differences as well as single USP items before and after the training were tested by unpaired t-test. Two-way ANOVA was used to test impact of background variables on the USP scores. RESULTS The training program had statistically significant impact (P < 0·01) on the following individual items of the USP scale: Patients who have tried to commit suicide are usually treated well in my work unit (d = 1·02); A person who has made several suicide attempt is at greater risk of committing suicide (d = 0·64); Because the patients who have tried to commit suicide have emotional problems, they need the best possible treatment (d = 0·57). The results also suggested that the frequency of patient contact had impact on attitudes towards self-injurious patients.