Researchers from Oxford University’s Centre for Suicide Research have conducted a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies that explore health service staff attitudes to people who self-harm.

It’s obvious to say that staff attitudes are going to have a big impact on the care of patients, but this research sought to review the nature of these attitudes, including the factors that influence self-harm behaviour, and the impact of training on attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of staff.

The researchers conducted a systematic search and limited their review to English language, which may well have excluded useful studies.  However, they found 74 studies to include in the review and they extracted data and gave each paper a quality rating.

Here’s what they found:

• Attitudes of general hospital staff, especially doctors, were largely negative, particularly towards individuals who repeatedly self-harm
• Self-harm patients were viewed more negatively than other patients, except those abusing alcohol or drugs
• Psychiatric staff in community and hospital settings displayed more positive attitudes than general hospital staff
• Negative attitudes were more common among doctors than nursing staff although this was only true of general hospital staff
• Active training led to consistent improvements in attitude and knowledge in all groups.

The research team concluded:

Attitudes of general hospital staff towards self-harm patients are often negative, mirroring the experience of service users. Interventions can have a positive impact and improve the quality of patient care.

Saunders KE, Hawton K, Fortune S, Farrell S. Attitudes and knowledge of clinical staff regarding people who self-harm: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2011 Sep 16. [Epub ahead of print] [PubMed abstract]