Time to Change campaign improving public's behaviour
The ground-breaking joint Rethink/Mind Comic Relief-funded mental health anti-stigma campaign, Time to Change, has resulted in improved behaviour and attitudes amonst the public towards people with mental health difficulties.
A report in the journal Psychiatric Services shows that the campaign, with which I'm involved as a blogger, has resulted in not just improved behaviour but positive behaviour.
The report says there was a drop 4% in overall discrimination and an improvement of 20% in discrimination in 22 key life areas over the first year of the campaign.
The research, led by Dr Claire Henderson and Professor Graham Thornicroft from King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), was highlighted by Time to Change.
Sue Baker, Director of Time to Change, said:
“It is tragic that nine out of ten people with mental health problems in England report discrimination. Stigma and discrimination are life limiting for millions of people and, for some, life threatening experiences.
“However these encouraging early findings, from the first year of the Time to Change programme, show that by working together we can start to improve the way people think and behave. Tens of thousands of people with mental health problems have spoken out to tackle stigma and improve understanding, and hundreds of organisations have done their bit. We still have a great deal of work to do before people with mental health problems can lead lives free from discrimination, and be full and active citizens able to contribute their talents to society.”
Dr Claire Henderson, from the Health Services and Population Research (HSPR) Department at the IoP at King’s, said:
“These are very promising early findings and suggest less discrimination in several important aspects of the people’s everyday lives, such as their relationships with friends and family, socialising and employment. People with mental health problems are often unfairly treated and we now want to see whether these improvements are sustained in the long-term, and whether we can identify any improvements in other areas of people’s lives.”
