Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Psychological First Aid among Health Professionals Working in Accident & Emergency Department in Brunei Darussalam

Abstract

Background: Mental health is an essential and integral component of health. Psychological first aid (PFA) is seen as an asset in the long run in order to ensure that any individual who is going through acute distress due to an emergency, disaster or crisis is able to receive basic support. The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of PFA among emergency health professionals in Brunei Darussalam and assess their knowledge and attitude towards PFA practice.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among health professionals working in the accident & emergency department in Brunei Darussalam from end of May to early June 2017. Pilot testing was done prior to distributing interview-assisted, self-administered questionnaires to the studied population. Descriptive statistics was performed by SPSS version 19.

Results: A total sample of 123 emergency health professionals responded to the questionnaire. Among the sample, 39.0% had moderate level of knowledge, 42.3% had positive attitude towards PFA and 51.2% practiced PFA on a moderate level. Further, 48.3% claimed to have performed PFA at least once in their professional life.

Conclusion: This study found moderate level of knowledge and practice of PFA among health professionals. Further research will be required to measure the skills of staff and outcomes of PFA.