Beliefs and Attitudes of Health Care Professionals Toward Mental Health Services Users’ Rights: A Cross-Sectional Study from the United Arab Emirates

PURPOSE: The beliefs and attitudes of healthcare professionals (HCPs) towards service user’s rights in mental healthcare are critical to understanding as it impacts the quality of care and treatment, leading to social discrimination and possible coercive professional practices. This study aimed to investigate the association between the HCPs’ beliefs and attitudes towards service users’ rights in seeking treatment in the UAE and to identify or may predict the stigmatized attitudes and behaviors among HCPs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data was collected from HCPs participants working at three healthcare entities (n=307) allocated at selected primary and tertiary healthcare settings that specifically treat mental disorders. The Health Professionals Beliefs and Attitudes towards Mental Health Users’ Rights Scale (BAMHS) questionnaire was used to assess the beliefs and attitudes. Unconditional associations using regression models included whether HCPs provide care to specific mental health patients, whether treating mental health patients is part of their jobs, whether HCPs receive professional training for mental healthcare, nationality of HCPs, and the number of years of professional experience. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrate that HPCs understand mental disorders and feel that individuals’ rights should be equal to those who do not have mental disorders while believing in autonomy and freedom, but there is a level of discrimination and a high level of social distance. HCPs are less tolerant when interacting with those with mental disorders outside their professional lives. CONCLUSION: Interventions with long-term follow-up activities must be implemented and assessed using assessment systems that measure acquired knowledge and actual behavioral change to ensure anti-stigma impact in practice and policy.