Knowledge Among Class-D Workers Of Hospital In Protecting The Rights Of Mentally Ill Patients

Background Human right is an important perspective which deals in balancing the rights of human beings as distinct within the community.For patients with mental disorders, the rights are freedom and their remedial rights, right of protection against harm and constitutional rights. As per the BBC News report, the mental health institutions itself does not respect the rights of mentally ill patients. Sometimes the patients are found in dreadful conditions like being kept undressed or in dirty or old clothes. These are accounted under the violation of human rights of mentally ill patients. Methods A descriptive study comprised of 03 hospitals located in Sangli, Miraj, Kupwad Corporation area of Maharashtra, India. Nonprobability convenient sampling technique was adopted to recruit total of 111 subjects which was determined by power analysis formula for sample estimation. The Class-D workers who have worked/working in psychiatric units and or hospitals were included in the study. The tool included the structured knowledge questionnaire regarding human rights of mentally ill. Results In the present study, it was found that total 82.88% Class-D workers had overall average level of knowledge. In the domain wise assessment of knowledge it was found that the mean percentage of knowledgewas less in area related to the meaning of human rights i.e; 32.33%. Conclusion Information booklet was developed based on the findings to enhance the knowledge of the Class-D workers. The booklet was distributed to the subjects for further reference.