Exploring People With Serious Mental Illness Recommendations for Physician Assistant Education

People with serious mental illness (SMI) are a vulnerable population with poor health outcomes who also experience challenges interacting with health providers. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and recommendations of people with SMI for the development of physician assistant (PA) curriculum using the Socio-Ecological Model of Health framework (SEM). No known previous studies have explored the attitudes of people with SMI about their mental illness care to inform curriculum.

People with SMI (n = 7) were recruited from a state chapter of a mental health advocacy organization to explore experiences with health care providers and recommendations for PA education. The focus group lasted 90 minutes and was facilitated by a PA and mental health provider using an interview guide.

Four themes were identified and coded using the SEM framework. These included (1) individual attributes of health, (2) interpersonal relationships contributing to health, (3) community features contributing to health, and (4) educational aspects needed for positive health encounters.

People with SMI noted difficulties in interactions with medical professionals and systems. They perceived that medical providers need more education and skills to engage with people with complex health and mental health conditions. Results of this study may suggest that PA education can be improved by considering the SEM levels of interaction and listening to patients to incorporate feedback into service provision.