Effect of a contact-based education intervention on reducing stigma among community health and care staff in Beijing, China

ISRCTN ISRCTN13779136
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13779136
Secondary identifying numbers ECEIRSCSBC01
Submission date
11/06/2020
Registration date
18/06/2020
Last edited
30/08/2022
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
Increasing evidence suggests that the stigma associated with mental illness is a powerful barrier to accessing mental health care worldwide. Consistent findings in high-income countries have shown that contact with people with mental illness is the most effective intervention to reduce stigma. However, little evidence is available at present on how to reduce stigma in low- and middle-income countries, including China. The aim of this pilot study is to assess how feasible an intervention to reduce stigma among the primary care and community healthcare staff through a contact-based education intervention.

Who can participate?
Staff from primary care centers, community committees, Civil Affairs, and the China Disabled Persons' Federation in the localities involved in the study: the Haidian District, Chaoyang District, and Fangshan District.

What does the study involve?
Participants will be randomly assigned to either receive a lecture on mental health stigma only or to receive a lecture followed by a session with patients. The lecture will last 1 to 1.5 hours health and patient contact session lasts 1 hour and involves contact with recovery patients with mental illness.

Participants will be interviewed and evaluated by researchers 4 times, each time lasting about 30 minutes. The interview evaluation will discuss background information about participants (such as age) and information on their knowledge, attitude, and behavior about stigma of mental illness and people with mental illness. These evaluations will take place before the lecture, after the lecture/lecture and sesssion, 1 month after intervention, 3 months after intervention.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
A possible benefit of the study is that it will help participants to learn about mental illness and may improve perceptions and understanding of people with mental illness. Participation may also help to develop appropriate strategies for the treatment of stigma surrounding mental illness and improve the lives and survival of people with mental illness and their families.

Discomfort may be caused by the content of the questionnaires completed by the participants. These are stated for the purpose of assessing stigma related to mental illness. If certain items in the scale cause discomfort, participants may refuse to answer.

Where is the study run from?
The study run from Peking University Sixth Hospital (China) and King’s College London (UK).

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
From November 2016 to March 2019

Who is funding the study?
This study is supported by King’s College London – Peking University Health Science Center Joint Institute for Medical Research.

Who is the main contact?
Dr Wufang Zhang
zhangwufang@bjmu.edu.cn

Contact information

Dr Wufang Zhang
Scientific

No. 51 Hua Yuan Bei Road
Haidian District
Beijing
100191
China

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0003-0221-0012
Phone +86 10 82802834
Email zhangwufang@bjmu.edu.cn

Study information

Study designDouble-blind randomized controlled trial.
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Community
Study typePrevention
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please use contact details to requste a participant information sheet.
Scientific titleEffect of a contact-based education intervention on reducing stigma among community health and care staff in Beijing, China (ECEIRSCSBC): a pilot randomized controlled study
Study acronymECEIRSCSBC
Study objectivesA contact-based education intervention reduces the stigma associated with mental illness more than a lecture to community health and care staff.
Ethics approval(s)Approved 07/02/2017, the Peking University Institutional Review Board (Room 501, Yifu Building, Peking University Health Science Center, No 38, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191 China; llwyh@bjmu.edu.cn; +86 10 82805751), ref: IRB00001052-16077
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedStigma associated with mental illness
InterventionParticipants had an equal probability of being assigned to the two groups. The coordinator in each site gave a study number to each participant according to the order in which informed consent was obtained. Using a computer-generated randomization a list was compiled through simple randomization, participants were randomly assigned (ratio 1:1) to the control or intervention group.

Those in the control group received the lecture alone without contact, while those in the intervention group were invited also to stay for a session that followed immediately after this, i.e. the contact session.

Participants will complete questionnaires regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and behavior regarding mental health before the lecture and then after either the lecture (control group) or the session (intervention group), and in face-to-face evaluation sessions at 1 and 3 months follow up.
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measureMental health-related knowledge measured using the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and after 1 and 3 months
Secondary outcome measures1. Mental health-related attitudes measured using The Mental illness: Clinicians’ Attitudes (MICA) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and after 1 and 3 months
2. Intended behavior measured using the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and after 1 and 3 months
Overall study start date21/11/2016
Completion date28/03/2019

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Health professional
Age groupAdult
Lower age limit18 Years
SexBoth
Target number of participants121 participants, 61 in intervention group and 60 in control group.
Total final enrolment121
Key inclusion criteria1. Staff from primary care centers, community committees, Civil Affairs, and China Disabled Persons' Federation
2. Aged between 18 and 60 years
3. More than one year of work experience
4. Literate
Key exclusion criteriaDoes not meet inclusion criteria
Date of first enrolment13/12/2018
Date of final enrolment29/12/2018

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • China

Study participating centres

Zhoukoudian Community Health Service Center
No 28 Zhoukoudian Street
Fangshan District
Beijing
102400
China
Balizhuang Community Health Service Center
No 11 Yanjingxili
Chaoyang District
Beijing
100053
China
Shangdi Hospital
No.6, Shucun West Road
Nongda South Road
Haidian District
Beijing
100084
China
Malianwa sub-district office of the Haidian District People's Government
Yard 8, Malianwa Street
Haidian District
Beijing
100193
China

Sponsor information

Peking University Sixth Hospital
Hospital/treatment centre

No. 51 Hua Yuan Bei Road
Haidian District
Beijing
100191
China

Phone +86 10 82802834
Email liuyuankeban@163.com
Website http://www.pkuh6.cn/
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/05rzcwg85

Funders

Funder type

University/education

King’s College London – Peking University Health Science Center Joint Institute for Medical Research

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date01/10/2020
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot expected to be made available
Publication and dissemination planPlanned publication in a high-impact peer-reviewed journal.
IPD sharing planThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not expected to be made available due to constraints on the data sharing permissions of the samples included in this study, the trialists are not allowed to share the data for public use

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article 01/07/2022 16/08/2022 Yes No
Protocol file in Chinese
version 6
30/08/2022 No No

Additional files

38425 Protocol v6 03January2017.pdf
in Chinese

Editorial Notes

30/08/2022: Uploaded protocol (not peer-reviewed) as an additional file.
16/08/2022: Publication reference added.
19/06/2020: Internal review.
17/06/2020: Trial’s existence confirmed by Peking University Institutional Review Board.