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Effectiveness of Psychoeducation on Improving Opinions About Mental Illness Among Primary School Teacher Trainees in Kenya

Received: 30 July 2016     Accepted: 9 August 2016     Published: 2 September 2016
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Abstract

Opinions about mental illness have been found to be negative among college students and the general population. Studies have indicated that improving literacy levels would improve opinions and lead to individuals to seek help and family to provide the needed support. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of psycho-education on the opinions about mental illness among public primary teacher trainees in Kenya. Convenience sampling was used to identify four public teacher colleges out of the twenty. Self-administered demographic questionnaire and opinions about mental illness scale were presented to the participants to collect data in four evaluations for the experimental group and three for the control group. The ethical protocol was followed from getting authority to informed consent from the participants. Out of the 2925 questionnaires presented, 2775 were returned fully filled, a return rate of 94.34%. Summative scores improved among the experimental group in the second, and third assessments, but this reduced to almost the original measure in the fourth assessment. This study found that psycho-education of mental illness is effective in improving negative opinions about mental illness among these participants and this study recommended mental health studies is included in the teachers’ curriculum.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 4, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11
Page(s) 422-429
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Mental Illness, Opinions, Psychoeducation, Teachers, Trainees, Effectiveness

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Eunice Jemalel Nyavanga, Ivy Mmbone Chebet, Mourice Barasa, David M. Ndetei. (2016). Effectiveness of Psychoeducation on Improving Opinions About Mental Illness Among Primary School Teacher Trainees in Kenya. Science Journal of Public Health, 4(6), 422-429. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11

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    ACS Style

    Eunice Jemalel Nyavanga; Ivy Mmbone Chebet; Mourice Barasa; David M. Ndetei. Effectiveness of Psychoeducation on Improving Opinions About Mental Illness Among Primary School Teacher Trainees in Kenya. Sci. J. Public Health 2016, 4(6), 422-429. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11

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    AMA Style

    Eunice Jemalel Nyavanga, Ivy Mmbone Chebet, Mourice Barasa, David M. Ndetei. Effectiveness of Psychoeducation on Improving Opinions About Mental Illness Among Primary School Teacher Trainees in Kenya. Sci J Public Health. 2016;4(6):422-429. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11,
      author = {Eunice Jemalel Nyavanga and Ivy Mmbone Chebet and Mourice Barasa and David M. Ndetei},
      title = {Effectiveness of Psychoeducation on Improving Opinions About Mental Illness Among Primary School Teacher Trainees in Kenya},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {422-429},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20160406.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20160406.11},
      abstract = {Opinions about mental illness have been found to be negative among college students and the general population. Studies have indicated that improving literacy levels would improve opinions and lead to individuals to seek help and family to provide the needed support. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of psycho-education on the opinions about mental illness among public primary teacher trainees in Kenya. Convenience sampling was used to identify four public teacher colleges out of the twenty. Self-administered demographic questionnaire and opinions about mental illness scale were presented to the participants to collect data in four evaluations for the experimental group and three for the control group. The ethical protocol was followed from getting authority to informed consent from the participants. Out of the 2925 questionnaires presented, 2775 were returned fully filled, a return rate of 94.34%. Summative scores improved among the experimental group in the second, and third assessments, but this reduced to almost the original measure in the fourth assessment. This study found that psycho-education of mental illness is effective in improving negative opinions about mental illness among these participants and this study recommended mental health studies is included in the teachers’ curriculum.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    T1  - Effectiveness of Psychoeducation on Improving Opinions About Mental Illness Among Primary School Teacher Trainees in Kenya
    AU  - Eunice Jemalel Nyavanga
    AU  - Ivy Mmbone Chebet
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    AB  - Opinions about mental illness have been found to be negative among college students and the general population. Studies have indicated that improving literacy levels would improve opinions and lead to individuals to seek help and family to provide the needed support. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of psycho-education on the opinions about mental illness among public primary teacher trainees in Kenya. Convenience sampling was used to identify four public teacher colleges out of the twenty. Self-administered demographic questionnaire and opinions about mental illness scale were presented to the participants to collect data in four evaluations for the experimental group and three for the control group. The ethical protocol was followed from getting authority to informed consent from the participants. Out of the 2925 questionnaires presented, 2775 were returned fully filled, a return rate of 94.34%. Summative scores improved among the experimental group in the second, and third assessments, but this reduced to almost the original measure in the fourth assessment. This study found that psycho-education of mental illness is effective in improving negative opinions about mental illness among these participants and this study recommended mental health studies is included in the teachers’ curriculum.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Social and Human, Faculty of Social Sciences and Technology, the Technical University of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, The Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

  • International Planned Parenthood Federation – Africa Region, Nairobi, Kenya

  • Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

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