The Effectiveness of Interventions on Improving the Mental Health Literacy of Health Care Professionals in General Hospitals: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

BACKGROUND: Suboptimal mental health literacy levels among general hospital health care professionals negatively impact the care coordination of patients with physical-mental comorbidity. AIMS: This review is to examine the evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to improve the mental health literacy of general hospital health care professionals. METHODS: A systematic search of literature was conducted in 13 electronic databases with manual searching of reference lists from 1980 to 2021. Studies were screened by pre-set eligibility criteria, that is, participants who were general hospital health care professionals taking care of adult patients, the interventions aimed at improving any components of participants' mental health literacy, comparisons were alternative active intervention or no intervention, and the primary outcomes were any aspects of mental health literacy. RESULTS: Eight randomized controlled trials (N = 1,732 participants) were included in this review. Evidence indicated that mental health literacy interventions with educational components can improve components of the health care professionals' mental health literacy, in terms of mental health knowledge and mental illness-related attitudes/stigma. In addition, few studies evaluated all components of participants' mental health literacy. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the available evidence, educational interventions had a positive effect on components of general hospital health care professionals' mental health literacy. Health care organizations should provide educational programs to enhance general hospital health care professionals' mental health literacy. Further studies are needed to explore interventions that target all components of general hospital staff's mental health literacy and to evaluate its impact on the psychiatric consultation-liaison service utilization in general hospitals, as well as patient outcomes.

Reliability and validity of the long-distance corridor walk among stroke survivors.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the psychometric properties of the Long-Distance Corridor Walk (LDCW) among community-dwelling stroke survivors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SUBJECTS: Twenty-five stroke survivors and 25 healthy older adults. METHODS: The LDCW was administered to the 25 stroke survivors on 2 separate days with a 7-day interval. Fugl-Meyer Assessment for the Lower Extremities (FMA-LE), measurement of lower limb muscle strength, Berg Balance Scale (BBS), limit of stability (LOS), Narrow-Corridor Walk Test (NCWT), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and the Community Integration Measure-Cantonese version (CIM) were performed on either day. The healthy older adults completed the LDCW once, and the results were recorded by a random rater. RESULTS: The LDCW showed excellent inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability, and significant correlations with FMA-LE, BBS, TUG, and NCWT. A cut-off score of 127.5 m for the 2-min walk and 426.69 s for the 400-m walk distinguished stroke survivors from healthy older adults. The MDC in the LDCW in the 2-min walk and 400-m walk were 18.69 m and 121.43 s, respectively. CONCLUSION: The LDCW is a reliable clinical measurement tool for the assessment of advanced walking capacity in stroke survivors.