FACTORS AFFECTING PUBLIC-ATTITUDES TOWARDS MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE

This study presents a telephone survey of 501 randomly sampled residen ts of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg older than 15 years of age. The in terviewees were questioned on their attitudes and judgements towards m ental health care in Luxembourg. The implementation of a community-bas ed mental-health-services delivery system in Luxembourg is in its init ial stages. Being the smallest member of the European Community Luxemb ourg offers the opportunity to analyze a whole catchment area in trans ition marked off clearly by national borders. As a general rule the pe ople of Luxembourg are undecided when it comes to mental health care. Almost half of the sample answered ''don't know'' when asked about the quality of several sectors of mental health care, excluding inpatient care. The factors that had a significant influence on the attitude of the people of Luxembourg regarding mental health care were nationalit y, age, class and personal contact with mentally ill persons, with a t endency of worse judgements in younger age groups and in members of up per social classes. We fitted multivariate models including these vari ables. The results of our study point to entrenched prejudice. The fin dings suggest, however, that attitudes are changeable by direct or ind irect contact with mentally ill persons. Possible strategies that coul d change public attitudes towards mental health care in a mental healt h care system that is in transition are discussed.