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Objective: Most interventions to reduce stigma in health professionals emphasize education and social contact-based strategies. We sought to evaluate a novel skill-based approach: the British Columbia Adult Mental Health Practice Support Program. We sought to determine the program's impact on primary care providers' stigma and their perceived confidence and comfort in providing care for mentally ill patients. We hypothesized that enhanced skills and increased comfort and confidence on the part of practitioners would lead to diminished social distance and stigmatization. Subsequently, we explored the program's impact on clinical outcomes and health care costs. These outcomes are reported separately, with reference to this article., Methods: In a double-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial, 111 primary care physicians were assigned to intervention or control groups. A validated stigma assessment tool, the Opening Minds Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC), was administered to both groups before and after training. Confidence and comfort were assessed using scales constructed from ad hoc items., Results: In the primary analysis, no significant differences in stigma were found. However, a subscale assessing social distance showed significant improvement in the intervention group after adjustment for a variable (practice size) that was unequally distributed in the randomization. Significant increases in confidence and comfort in managing mental illness were observed among intervention group physicians. A positive correlation was found between increased levels of confidence/comfort and improvements in overall stigma, especially in men., Conclusions: This study provides some preliminary evidence of a positive impact on health care professionals' stigma through a skill-building approach to management of mild to moderate depression and anxiety in primary care. The intervention can be used as a primary vehicle for enhancing comfort and skills in health care providers and, ultimately, reducing an important dimension of stigma: preference for social distance.

Abstract Background Depression affects over 400 million people globally. The majority are seen in primary care. Barriers in providing adequate care are not solely related to physicians’ knowledge/skills deficits, but also time constraints, lack of confidence/avoidance, which need to be addressed in mental health-care redesign. We hypothesized that family physician (FP) training in the Adult Mental Health Practice Support Program (AMHPSP) would lead to greater improvements in patient depressive symptom ratings (a priori primary outcome) compared to treatment as usual. Methods From October 2013 to May 2015, in a controlled trial 77 FP practices were stratified on the total number of physicians/practice as well as urban/rural setting, and randomized to the British Columbia AMHPSP⎯a multi-component contact-based training to enhance FPs’ comfort/skills in treating mild-moderate depression (intervention), or no training (control) by an investigator not operationally involved in the trial. FPs with a valid license to practice in NS were eligible. FPs from both groups were asked to identify 3–4 consecutive patients > 18 years old, diagnosis of depression, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥ 10, able to read English, intact cognitive functioning. Exclusion criteria: antidepressants within 5 weeks and psychotherapy within 3 months of enrollment, and clinically judged urgent/emergent medical/psychiatric condition. Patients were assigned to the same arm as their physician. Thirty-six practices recruited patients (intervention n = 23; control n = 13). The study was prematurely terminated at 6 months of enrollment start-date due to concomitant primary health-care transformation by health-system leaders which resulted in increased in-office demands, and recruitment failure. We used the PHQ-9 to assess between-group differences at baseline, 1, 2, 3, and 6 months follow-up. Outcome collectors and assessors were blind to group assignment. Results One hundred-and-twenty-nine patients (intervention n = 72; control n = 57) were analysed. A significant improvement in depression scores among intervention group patients emerged between 3 and 6 months, time by treatment interaction, likelihood ratio test (LR) chi2(3) = 7.96, p = .047. Conclusions This novel skill-based program shows promise in translating increased FP comfort and skills managing depressed patients into improved patient clinical outcomes⎯even in absence of mental health specialists availability. Trial registration #NCT01975948.

Background: Depression affects over 400 million people globally. The majority are seen in primary care. Barriers in providing adequate care are not solely related to physicians' knowledge/skills deficits, but also time constraints, lack of confidence/avoidance, which need to be addressed in mental health-care redesign. We hypothesized that family physician (FP) training in the Adult Mental Health Practice Support Program (AMHPSP) would lead to greater improvements in patient depressive symptom ratings (a priori primary outcome) compared to treatment as usual. Methods: From October 2013 to May 2015, in a controlled trial 77 FP practices were stratified on the total number of physicians/practice as well as urban/rural setting, and randomized to the British Columbia AMHPSP⎯a multi-component contact-based training to enhance FPs' comfort/skills in treating mild-moderate depression (intervention), or no training (control) by an investigator not operationally involved in the trial. FPs with a valid license to practice in NS were eligible. FPs from both groups were asked to identify 3–4 consecutive patients > 18 years old, diagnosis of depression, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥ 10, able to read English, intact cognitive functioning. Exclusion criteria: antidepressants within 5 weeks and psychotherapy within 3 months of enrollment, and clinically judged urgent/emergent medical/psychiatric condition. Patients were assigned to the same arm as their physician. Thirty-six practices recruited patients (intervention n = 23; control n = 13). The study was prematurely terminated at 6 months of enrollment start-date due to concomitant primary health-care transformation by health-system leaders which resulted in increased in-office demands, and recruitment failure. We used the PHQ-9 to assess between-group differences at baseline, 1, 2, 3, and 6 months follow-up. Outcome collectors and assessors were blind to group assignment. Results: One hundred-and-twenty-nine patients (intervention n = 72; control n = 57) were analysed. A significant improvement in depression scores among intervention group patients emerged between 3 and 6 months, time by treatment interaction, likelihood ratio test (LR) chi2(3) = 7.96, p =.047. Conclusions: This novel skill-based program shows promise in translating increased FP comfort and skills managing depressed patients into improved patient clinical outcomes⎯even in absence of mental health specialists availability. Trial registration: #NCT01975948. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]