Effect of a mental health educational program upon police officers.

Community-based psychiatric treatment and domestic crises have precipitated police officers to intervene with emotionally disturbed people. The investigator hypothesized that an 8-hour educational seminar would significantly improve knowledge and attitudes of police officers toward people experiencing emotional difficulty. A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design (control n = 33, experimental n = 27) was used. A knowledge measure specific to seminar content, the Osgood Semantic Differential, and an evaluative questionnaire were the outcome measures. Police officers' knowledge about working with people experiencing emotional difficulty increased, but attitudes were not altered. All officers reported that the seminar was a valuable experience. These results suggest that educational programs can impact nonhealth care worker in contact with the emotionally disturbed.