Abstract
Aims and methodSeveral national anti-stigma campaigns have been devised in the UK, including the current Time to Change campaign in England. Our aim was to assess whether the campaign promotional materials were likely to have any effect on public attitudes towards mental illness. Postcards, leaflets and bookmarks promoting the campaign were posted to 250 participants recruited from a representative panel of members of the public. Two weeks later a questionnaire was sent to assess the impact the campaign materials had.ResultsThe response rate was 78%. Only 23% of participants recognised the Time to Change logo after 2 weeks and only 20% correctly reported that one in four people were affected by mental health problems when presented with five alternative responses. Almost as many participants thought the campaign was promoting a British political party rather than discrimination against mental illness.Clinical implicationsA single exposure to Time to Change campaign materials is unlikely to be effective. The title of the campaign is likely to be confused with political campaigning in Britain.
Highlights
We wanted to assess whether promotional materials from the Time to Change campaign were likely to have any effect on public attitudes towards mental illness
The attitude of participants towards mental illness was tested using the 5-item Attitude to Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ), with a vignette describing a man with depression and an episode of self-harm
Completed questionnaires were received from 196 individuals; 32% were male; mean age was 50 years (s.e. = 1.1); 56% were in paid employment; 92% described themselves as White British; 41% endorsed the item ‘Do you know anyone personally who has a serious mental illness or someone who has been in a mental hospital?’
Summary
= 2.91) for the 5-point AMIQ stigma scale. We compared this with a score from the AMIQ validation 3 years earlier on 1098 members of the UK general public: + 2.35 The campaign logo was recognised by 23% of participants. 20% correctly reported that one in four people were affected by mental health problems when presented with five alternative responses (33% chose one in three; 14% one in five; 12% one in six; and 34% did not know). When asked ‘What issue or organisation does the Time to Change campaign promote?’ and presented with six alternatives, 24% correctly identified ‘discrimination against mental illness’. Familiarity with mental illness had no significant effect on the AMIQ stigma scores or familiarity with the campaign.
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