Advance Nursing Research (Evidence-Based Practice)

Advanced Nursing Research (Research Study)

Student Name

Institution-Affiliated

Different Parts of a Research Study

Research topic

A systematic review of the association between stigma and or on help-seeking among mental health patients.

Research Problem

Stigma or the process of labelling, discrimination and prejudice towards individuals suffering from mental health problems is considered to have numerous adverse consequences compared to the health conditions themselves according to Thornicroft, Mehta, Clement, Evans-Lacko, Doherty, Rose & Henderson, (2016). In addition, research has found stigma to be responsible for the failure of numerous individuals suffering from mental health to seek help from both their close relatives or trusted individuals and from healthcare providers (Clement, Schauman, Graham, Maggioni, Evans-Lacko, Bezborodovs, Thornicroft, 2015).

Given an increase in mental health disorders and the challenges that such disorders pose to both individuals and society, numerous studies have been conducted to examine the association between stigma and help-seeking among mental health patients. However, research has largely focused on the attitudes that constitute stigma towards mental health patients and little on the interventions required to reduce or eradicate stigma. Moreover, since the failure to reduce stigma prevents mental health patients from seeking help and hence worsening their conditions, there is need for further studies regarding the association between stigma and help-seeking and the need to reduce stigma making the study not only relevant but significant.

Research purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between stigma and help-seeking among mental health patients and to identify proven strategies or actionable recommendation for reducing stigma.

Research objectives

The objective of the study will be to (1) Explore the extent to which stigma posses a barrier to help-seeking among mental health patients, (2) Identify whether stigma affects certain populations more than others and (3) propose strategies that can help reduce stigma.

Research question

The study will aim to answer the following questions (1) What is the association between stigma towards mental health patients and help-seeking? (2) To what extent does stigma constitute a barrier to the search for help among mental health patients and (3) Are there populations that are more deterred from seeking help due to stigma?

Research hypothesis

Ho: Stigma towards mental health patients deters them from seeking help

Ha: There is no association between stigma and the search for help among mental health patients.

In addition, the study hypothesizes that a reduction in stigma would result in increased help-seeking among mental health patients.

References

Clement, S., Schauman, O., Graham, T., Maggioni, F., Evans-Lacko, S., Bezborodovs, N., ... & Thornicroft, G. (2015). What is the impact of mental health-related stigma on help-seeking? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Psychological medicine, 45(1), 11-27.

Thornicroft, G., Mehta, N., Clement, S., Evans-Lacko, S., Doherty, M., Rose, D., ... & Henderson, C. (2016). Evidence for effective interventions to reduce mental-health-related stigma and discrimination. The Lancet, 387(10023), 1123-1132.