Via Research Recognition Day Program VCOM-Carolinas 2025

Clinical Educational Research

De-Stigmatization of Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors in Rural Elderly Through Education Taylor Shelton, Samson Mumber, Walker Nurrenbern, Joel Horowitz, Steven Larsen, Saif Ghanayem, Christian Newton, Alexis Stoner (PhD), Natalie Fadel (PsyD) . Introduction Results Discussion

Mean Pre- and Post- Results of Knowledge Survey

Poor mental health is not a problem exclusive to Cherokee county, and our aim is that this project can serve as a framework for further implementation to improve attitudes (ultimately reducing personal stigma) and allow vulnerable populations to learn more about caring for their mental health – and move forward in their communities to empower others to do the same. • Conner, K.O., et al. “Mental Health Treatment Seeking Among Older Adults with Depression: The Impact of Stigma and Race.” The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 18, no. 6, 2010, pp. 531 -534, doi:10.1097/jpg.0b013e3181c c0366. • Conner, K.O., et al. “Mitigating the Stigma of Mental Illness among Older Adults Living with Depression.” Stigma and Health, vol. 3, no. 2, 2018, pp. 93-101, doi: 10.1037/sah0000076. Elshaikh, U., et al. “Barriers and Facilitators of Older Adults for Professional Mental Health Help -seeking: A Systematic Review.” BMC Geriatric, vol. 23, no. 516, 2023. https://doi.org/.10.1186/s12877-023-04229-x. • Maddox, S., et al. “Effects of Mental Health Training on Capacity, Willingness, and Engagement in Peer -to-Peer Support in Rural New South Wales.” Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm/nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9292661. Accessed 18 Mar. 2014. • Hammer, J. H., & Parent, M. C., & Spiker, D. A. (2018). Mental Help Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS): Development, reliability, validity, and comparison with the ATSSPH-SF and IASMHS-PO. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65, 74 85. doi: 10.1037/cou0000248 References The results of our study indicated that providing a simple educational intervention both increased the knowledge of resource availability and improved the attitudes towards seeking out mental health care in senior citizens. Our research demonstrated that individuals’ personal stigma and negative attitudes around mental health can be reduced when given access to knowledge and open conversation regarding the topic. Senior citizens in rural communities are exceptionally prone to isolation, but when surrounded by peers and provided with opportunities to learn about mental health, were able to gain understanding of how to care for themselves and the resources around them in which to do so, as well as more positive attitudes on seeking help. The marked increase in mean responses for questions 7 and 8 on the Knowledge Survey indicated that seniors are more likely to to seek help in the future and recommend resources to their peers. Our results in Figure 2 agree with existing literature covering the stigmatization of seeking mental health care among elderly (Coner et. Al., 2010). Additionally, the effectiveness of administering an educational intervention is contingent with the results presented by both Conner et. Al (2018) and Maddox et. Al. (2022). Conclusion

Cherokee county is a rural county that is home to roughly 56,000 inhabitants along the northernmost border of Upstate South Carolina. Recent Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) identified poor mental health among the geriatric population as prominent issue despite a variety of free or low-cost mental health resources already established in the county. Literature suggests that two of the main barriers to mental health care are personal stigma and lack of access to mental health care (Elshaikh et. Al., 2023). The goal of our research was to determine if implementing an educational, de-stigmatizing initiative on mental health increases the likelihood of older adults in Cherokee county to access mental health resources that already exist in their community, and to improve personal attitudes on seeking out mental health help.

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Figure 1: Scores on the Pre-Survey (M= 2.77) and Post Survey (M=3.93) indicated the mean score for each numbered item and for the survey as a total of 5.

Methods

Participants experienced:

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Increased knowledge and attitudes about mental health resources in Cherokee

More positive attitudes towards seeking mental health care

IntePrvoesnt-tion

Pre Intervention

Intervention

Mean Pre- and Post- Results of MHSAS Survey

Administer surveys to assess

Educate population on mental health importance and local resources

Re-administer surveys to compare score following educational intervention

knowledge level and attitudes on help seeking

Mean Score (0-3)

Question Number

The MHSAS quantifies mental health help seeking behaviors. The Knowledge Survey assessed knowledge on resource availability and attitudes towards them.

Figure 2: Scores before the intervention (Pre-Survey) (M= 1.94) and after (Post Survey) (M=2.27) indicate both the mean MHSAS score per each question and the overall on a scale of 0 to 3.

2025 Research Recognition Day

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