Evans-Lacko, Sara 
ORCID: 0000-0003-4691-2630, London, Jillian, Little, Kirsty, Henderson, Claire and Thornicroft, Graham
(2010)
Evaluation of a brief anti-stigma campaign in Cambridge: do short-term campaigns work?
BMC Public Health, 10 (339).
ISSN 1471-2458
Abstract
Background: In view of the high costs of mass-media campaigns, it is important to understand whether it is possible for a media campaign to have significant population effects over a short period of time. This paper explores this question specifically in reference to stigma and discrimination against people with mental health problems using the Time to Change Cambridge anti-stigma campaign as an example. Methods: 410 face-to-face interviews were performed pre, during and post campaign activity to assess campaign awareness and mental health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Results: Although campaign awareness was not sustained following campaign activity, significant and sustained shifts occurred for mental health-related knowledge items. Specifically, there was a 24% (p < 0.001) increase in persons agreeing with the statement: If a friend had a mental health problem, I know what advice to give them to get professional help, following the campaign. Additionally, for the statement: Medication can be an effective treatment for people with mental health problems, there was a 10% rise (p = 0.05) in the proportion of interviewees responding 'agree' or 'strongly agree' following the campaign. These changes, however, were not evident for attitudinal or behaviour related questions. Conclusions: Although these results only reflect the impact of one small scale campaign, these preliminary findings suggest several considerations for mass-media campaign development and evaluation strategies such as: (1) Aiming to influence outcomes pertaining to knowledge in the short term; (2) Planning realistic and targeted outcomes over the short, medium and long term during sustained campaigns; and (3) Monitoring indirect campaign effects such as social discourse or other social networking/contact in the evaluation.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2010 The Authors |
| Divisions: | Personal Social Services Research Unit |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Aug 2015 08:51 |
| Last Modified: | 03 Apr 2024 20:03 |
| Funders: | Big Lottery Fund, Comic Relief |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/63037 |
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