Can a brief training intervention on schizophrenia and depression improve knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary healthcare workers? The experience in Armenia

Background Although the World Health Organization has called for mental health services to be integrated into primary care, mental health remains in most countries, and especially in low- and middle-income countries, one of the most neglected topics in the training curriculum of frontline health workers. As a result, primary healthcare professionals leave medical and nursing schools with insufficient knowledge, and often with negative attitudes towards mental disorders. Aim We investigated the effect of a brief training intervention on schizophrenia and depression conducted among general practitioners and nurses in Armenia. Methods Training interventions were one-day, face-to-face, interactive workshops, including didactic presentations and discussions of case studies. We used a quasi-experimental design of the before/after type, to compare data on knowledge, attitudes and practices collected before and after the training sessions. Results Mean scores for knowledge, attitudes and practices increased significantly (p < 0.001) among both nurses and GPs for both schizophrenia (111 GPs and 167 nurses) and depression (459 GPs and 197 nurses). Conclusions Our experience suggests that a brief training intervention can result in significant improvements in knowledge, attitudes and practices among primary healthcare workers and could help improve mental health services.