Mixed results-- outside of family and friends, UK's five year anti-stigma campain changed little

[HereSince1628]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/03/mental-health-problems-stigma-employers

On Wednesday Time to Change, the anti-stigma campaign, led by the mental health charities, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, publishes a series of articles in the British Journal of Psychiatry evaluating the first phase of the programme, which ran in England between 2007 and 2011. The results present a highly nuanced and complex picture. This is hardly surprising given the multifaceted nature of the programme.

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Time to Change was aimed at both the general population and at specific target groups, such as employers and medical students, as well as people with mental health problems. The campaign made use of social marketing, advertising campaigns and one-day events designed to deliver social contact between people with experience of mental health problems and various target groups. Perhaps the most encouraging finding was the positive impact of such contact, especially on personal relationships. There was a significant reduction in discrimination from friends (14% reduction), family (9%) and in social life (11%), as reported by service users (albeit from a very low survey response rate of 6-11%). It may not be especially surprising, but it is certainly worth underlining, that knowing someone who is open about having a mental health problem has a clear and positive impact on attitude and behaviour. In other words, the more of us who are willing to hold up our hands, the better for everyone.

Other results were less persuasive. Surveys of public attitudes to mental illness showed no significant improvement in either knowledge or reported behaviour. Employers showed an increased awareness of common mental health problems, though, worryingly, a large majority believed that prospective employees should disclose these prior to employment. Medical students showed a significant improvement in attitude directly after intervention but this tailed off after six months.