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Enhancing Mental Health Literacy and Challenging Stigma in Clinical Contexts: Insights from the ‘Bicho De 7 Cabeças’ project
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Mental health literacy and reducing stigma among healthcare professionals are vital for providing compassionate and effective care. This research evaluated the impact of the ‘Bicho de 7 Cabeças’ project, a local psychoeducational initiative in Póvoa de Varzim, a municipality in the North of Portugal, on improving MHL and reducing stigmatising attitudes. The intervention combined immersive technologies, such as virtual reality, with participatory methods like sociodrama to foster emotional engagement and attitudinal change. This study adopted a quasi-experimental pre-post design. Data were collected from healthcare professionals across three institutions using four instruments: The Mental Health Knowledge Schedule, Mental Health Literacy Measure, Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill, and Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale. Results showed significant improvements across all dimensions, with the strongest improvements seen in attitudes and practical literacy. Participants with lower educational backgrounds and less prior exposure to mental health issues benefited most from the intervention. These findings suggest that training programmes featuring experiential elements, such as sociodrama and virtual reality, may effectively shift attitudes and reinforce knowledge. Despite limitations, the study highlights the necessity of interventions designed to meet the unique characteristics of professionals, therby promoting clinical environments that are more inclusive and responsive to mental health needs.
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Mental Health Literacy Stigma Health professionals Psychoeducational intervention Virtual reality