Positive mental health literacy in primary health care nurses

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health literacy is fundamental for the recognition of mental health problems and early intervention. Its assessment is important to identify knowledge deficits about mental health/mental illness and help define intervention programs to promote mental health literacy, as well as to evaluate these interventions. Objectives: To identify which sociodemographic and contextual variables to illness history and health behaviors interfere with the positive mental health of primary health care nurses; to verify whether there is a relationship between mental health literacy and the positive mental health of primary health care nurses. Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational study with a quantitative nature in a sample of 89 nurses working in a cluster of health care centers in the central region of Portugal (ACES-Dão Lafões). The data collection instrument included a questionnaire with questions on sociodemographic characterization, history of mental illness and health behaviors. The Mental Health Literacy Scale (O’Conner et al., 2015) adapted and validated for the Portuguese population by Loureiro and Carvalho (2018), the Positive Mental Health Questionnaire translated and adapted for the Portuguese population by Sequeira, Carvalho, Sampaio, Sá, Lluch-Canut, and Roldán-Merino (2014), and the What is important for a good mental health? (Chaves, Sequeira & Duarte, 2019). Results: The results of the study show a predominance of the female gender (82.0%), with a mean age of 45.60±8.43 years. By the ordering of the mean values the nurses in the sample have high levels of mental health literacy (67.06±7.73). The highest mean values were found in the dimensions: Recognition and appropriate self-help (M=71.34±10.58) and Knowledge about available professional support (M=68.41±16.74). Analysis of the relationship between positive mental health and mental health literacy reveals that nurses with critical literacy have better levels of positive mental health. The variables Predictors of positive mental health were: Male gender, age, years of professional experience, hours of sleep and all dimensions of mental health literacy which explained 24.8% of the variance.
Conclusion: The nurses who participated in the study have high levels of Mental Health Literacy (Critical Literacy), with positive and significant associations with positive mental health. This research, shows some of the implications that may result from low levels of mental health literacy, which may prevent early recognition of symptoms and delay help-seeking. The findings make important contributions to the creation of mental health literacy intervention programs for primary health care professionals. Investing in this area with primary care nurses increases the effectiveness of their mental health promotion interventions.