Exploring what works in mental health education for health profession students: a realist review

McCormack, Zoe; Kerr, Aisling; Leigh, George; Simpson, Andrew; Keating, Dolores; Strawbridge, Judith

doi:10.1186/s12909-025-07222-7

BMC Medical Education

Table 6 Included study characteristics

From: Exploring what works in mental health education for health profession students: a realist review

Author	Year	Country	Study design	MH focus	T and L approach	Setting	Profession	Learner characteristic	Outcomes
Atienza Carbonell, B	2022	Spain	QUANT survey	Stigma	PPI	university	junior med	Gender	Stigma reduction
Bamgbade, B	2016	USA	Quant eval	Depression, psychosis,	Videos, dialogic learning, active learning exercises, didactic theory	university	intermediate pharm		Willingness
Bamgbade, B	2017	USA	Quant eval	Depression psychosis	Videos, dialogic learning, active learning exercises, didactic theory	university	intermediate pharm	Gender	Stigma reduction, willingness
Bharathy, A	2015	Malaysia	Qual focus group	Stigma	Contact based education, community engaged learning	community	senior med		Stigma reduction
Bock. P	2022	USA	Quant eval	General mental illnesses	Creative approach - film,	university	intermediate pharm		MHL, stigma reduction
bonnin, R	2021	USA	Mixed methods	Suicide	Integrated curriculum	university	junior med		MHL, perceived importance
Boukouvalas, E	2018	Australia	Quant survey	General mental illnesses	MHFA (didactic, vignette, active learning, group discussions) simulation	university	senior pharm	Nationality, cultural values, personal or professional experiences of suicidality	Stigma reduction, MHL
Brondani, M	2021	Canada	Qual reflection	Addiction	Didactic, vignette, dialogic, reflective	university	dental MIXED		Stigma reduction, MHL
Brown, R	2015	USA	Qual eval	General mental illnesses	Didactic, dialogic, ppi, reflective	university	junior med		Stigma reduction
Cates. M	2019	USA	Quant survey	General mental illnesses	Creative - film, active learning exercise	university	intermediate pharm		MHL, stigma reduction
Dean, T	2020	USA	Quant survey	Depression	Didactic, guest lecturer, patient educator, case studies, proctor	university	intermediate pharm		Confidence
Downs, S	2023	UK	Quant survey	Serious mental illnesses	Simulation	university	intermediate paramedic		Confidence
Dulellari	2022	USA	Quant survey	General mental illnesses	MHFAusa	university	MIXED		This can support students to develop appropriate knowledge for their future practice
El-Den, S	2016	Australia	Qual eval	Depression	Simulation	university	senior pharm		Confidence
Feeley	2016	USA	Quant survey	Addiction	Didactic, PPI experiential (placement)	hybrid	intermediate med	Previous experiences	Motivation, improved patient care, MHL.
Fernandez, A	2016	Malaysia	Quant rct	Serious mental illnesses, stigma,	Didactic, PPI, video	university	junior med		Reduced stigma and social distancing
Frick, A	2021	USA	Quant survey	General mental illnesses	MHFA USA − 8 h, vignettes, group discussion, role play scenarios	university	intermediate pharm		Reduce stigma, MHL, care quality.
Hassoulas. A	2017	UK	Quant eval	Depression, psychosis, stigma	Case based learning, experiential- placement, MSE practical, small group discussion	hybrid	junior med		Mhl
Hostetter, K	2022	USA	Mixed methods	Addiction	Experiential	clinic	intermediate med		Develops motivation, confidence
Jarvi, A	2020	USA	Quant survey	Addiction	Didactic, community engaged learning, reflection	hybrid	intermediate pharm		Research shows similar outcomes whether education is online or in person
Keating, D	2019	Ireland	Qual eval	General mental illnesses	PPI, experiential learning	hospital	senior pharm	Apprehension and previous experience	Reduced stigma and social distancing (?) Motivation and reduced stigma
Lizer, M	2016	USA	Quant survey	Stigma, general mental illness	Experiential, peer to peer, PPI, art based, dialogic,	university	intermediate pharm		Deeper MHL, reducing stigma
Loera, L	2023	USA	Quant survey	Addiction	Experiential	hybrid	senior pharm		Confidence with different presentations of mental health.
Ma, H	2020	Taiwan	Quant survey	Stigma	Didactic, dialogic, art based, experiential, practice	university	occupational therapy		Reduction stigma
McLaughlin, J	2017	USA	Quant survey	Stigma	Experiential	university and clinic	intermediate pharm		Decreased social distancing, motivation and confidence in providing support to people with mental health challenges
Monteiro, K	2017	USA	Quant eval	Addiction	Interprofessional, case based learning, PPI,	university	Interprofessional		Learning outcomes are richer, team development skills
Newman, J	2019	Australia	Qual eval	Psychosis	PPI	university	social work		Enrichening students understandings of mental health challenges., reflective
O’Reilly, C	2019	Australia	Qual eval	Suicide	Simulation	university	senior pharm		Skill development, confidence,
Pandhi, N	2020	USA	Quant survey	Depression	Dialogic, self- paced online	university	intermediate med		Preparedness for professional practice
Peyre, H	2021		Quant survey	Suicide	Simulation	university	junior med		Which helps improve the quality of the communication between student and patient
Pittenger, A	2019	USA	Mixed methods	General mental illnesses	Peer led teaching, simulation, compentency based learning	university	intermediate pharm		MHL, adaptable, complexity
Player, E	2019	UK	Mixed methods	Addiction	PPI	university	senior med		Improved patient care, authenticity, complexity, communication skills, reduced stigma
Pothireddy, N	2022	USA	Quant survey	Suicide	Didactic, video, role play	university	intermediate pharm		Increasing knowledge, confidence and mental health communication and referral behaviour
Potts, L	2022	England, Nigeria, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, Hungary, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Brazil	Quant survey	Stigma	Dialogic, placement	clinic	mixed		Reduced anxiety and greater empathy can promote more therapeutic optimism
Prosser, M	2021	Somaliland and UK	Qual focus	Cultural competency	Reflective, case based learning	online	senior med		Intercultural skills and competencies
Rikard-bell, C	2018	Australia	Quant survey	General mental illnesses	Year 2 human development and behaviour module:	hybrid	junior med	Age, prior experience	Students who do not feel fully prepared
Silvia, R	2020	USA	Qual eval	Addiction	Creative - music, reflections	university	not specified pharm		Empathy, MHL
Skoy, E	2015	USA	Mixed methods	Psychosis	Simulation	university	intermediate pharm		Improved empathy
Sun, A	2022	USA	Quant survey	Addiction	Online, didactic, art based, experiential,	hybrid	intermediate med		Prepared health professionals, reduction of stigma, MHL, skill development, quality of care

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ISSN: 1472-6920

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