“A Comparative study to assess the knowledge and attitude towards mental illness among adults of urban and rural area of Kheda District, Gujarat.”

Abstract

Mental illness has always been significant challenge and is becoming more and more relevant in today’s fast paced world. According to the world Health organization Mental Health is “a state of well being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” Whereas mental illness refers collectively to health conditions involving significant changes in emotion, thinking or behavior or a combination of there and associated with distress and/or problems function in social work or family activities. There is a misconception that people with mental illness are violent, which contributes to the significant of mental illness. Material and Method: A Quantitative non-experimental, comparative approach used in this research study. Sample size for the present study was consisting of 100 adults. The instrument used for the data collection is self structured knowledge questionnaire and Likert scale for attitude questionnaire. The data analysis was done by using descriptive and inferential statistical in terms of mean, mean percentage, standard deviation and chi square. Result: The result revealed that, In knowledge regarding mental illness urban adults (mean=10.38) have more knowledge as compare to rural adults (mean=6.04) and In attitude regarding mental illness urban adults (mean=43.66) have more attitude as compare to rural adults (mean=30.42). Conclusion: The study concluded that Urban adults have more knowledge as compare to Rural adults. Urban adults have more positive attitude as compare to rural adults.