Public Understanding and Perceptions of Mental Health Nurses’ Care for Schizophrenia: A Study from Indonesia

Abstract

Background: Limited mental hospital capacity in Indonesia forces patients with schizophrenia to seek external care, resulting in gaps in public understanding and perception. The aim is to assess the level of understanding and perception regarding patients with the schizophrenia care provided by mental health nurses.

Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed, and collected data randomly from a sample of 128 Indonesian participants. The independent variable was public understanding and perceptions. The dependent variable was schizophrenia care by mental health nurses. A questionnaire was the instrument. The questionnaire validity was confirmed by Cronbach’s Alpha scores of 0.636 for understanding and 0.789 for perceptions. Inclusion criteria were adults Indonesian, could operate a mobile phone with internet facilities, knew mental hospitals, and mental health nurses. The exclusion criteria are non-Indonesians, or people who do not have gadgets or without internet facilities. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (univariate), Pearson’s correlation test (bivariate), and multivariate regression.

Results: The majority of respondents were female (58.5%), over 40 years old (42.9%), held a bachelor's degree (53.9%), were native residents (60.1%), and lived far from a mental hospital (63.2%). The level of understanding regarding the performance of mental health nurses in the "Good" category was 54.6%, while the public's perception of the management provided by mental health nurses was 53.1%. Pearson’s correlation test revealed a strong positive relationship (*r* = 0.758, *p* = 0.025) between public understanding of nurses' performance and perceptions of care quality, suggesting a unidirectional influence pattern.

Conclusion: The study suggested that higher public understanding and positive perceptions significantly improve schizophrenia care quality, and  addressing both cognitive (understanding) and attitudinal (perception) dimensions, can transform mental healthcare accessibility and quality, which support universal mental health coverage.