The Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Providers

This chapter details the consequences associated with mental health stigma among healthcare providers and the need for reliable and valid measurement of this stigma. The chapter details the development and initial validation of a novel scale to measure stigma within this domain: the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers. Consistent with the emerging literature in this area, the scale has items designed to reflect negative attitudes, social distancing, and non-willingness to disclose mental health concerns. Data analyses reveal that the scale is practical to use in real-world evaluative studies and sensitive to change. The overall score provides a suitable index for assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of anti-stigma interventions among healthcare workers and is recommended for further use.