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Getting our voice heard - help us improve the way we communicate
Posted Thursday 23 June 2011
It’s six months since I started here at Mind as Head of Communications. I’m very proud to be working for a charity that’s close to my heart that raises awareness of such important issues. It’s been a busy and exciting time, and although public awareness of mental health is gradually improving, it’s clear that there is so much more we can do and I'd like your help to improve our communications material.
For me, the most important part of my role is making sure that we get people thinking and talking about mental health. To do that, we need to maintain a high profile for Mind and make sure our passion and determination are visible in everything we do and say.
I want to see us reach as many people as possible and get them involved in what we do. That might be ringing our information line or going to their local Mind for support, becoming a member, or giving up some spare time to volunteer or be a trustee. It might be donating items to the local Mind shop or running a marathon to help us raise funds. Or signing up to support a campaign or write a letter to the local MP.
For the past few months we’ve been talking to our staff, local Minds, volunteers, supporters, donors, campaigners and service users, as well as people who’ve never come into contact with Mind before.
We’ve been asking them what they think is most likely to get people interested in what we have to say and what would make them join our cause.
We’ve worked with the Good Agency to come up with some new ideas about how our communications should look and sound. Making sure our materials catch the eye is crucial – and then we want to make sure that what we’re saying is clear and has a real impact.
I hope you can help us test these new ideas out. If you can spare 10 minutes, please email communications@mind.org.uk for a link to the ideas. We’d really value your feedback and we’ll use it to help us decide how Mind communicates in the future.
Thank you – your input and support is so important and very much appreciated.
Ruth Richards, Head of Communications
16 Comments
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No to yellow running vests ;o) !!
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Perhaps a little more thought given to involvement with campaigns like the dating ad. It showed a complete lack of understanding of the way dating/rent sites operate and made a victim out of someone that shouldn't have been used in this way. Consultation with someone about how these sites work would have shown that what happened in the fall off when mental health problems were disclosed was actually typical of a dating site not necessarily anything to do with mental health.
The campaign just made someone with a mental health problem feel worse. Contrary to what MInd is about surely?
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I feel one thing that could be useful is sending the message that we all have "mental health" and at times that level of health may be experienced as distressful. Doing this would help dispel further the phony divide between those who are so called "mentally ill" as opposed to "normal". We are all on a continuum of mental health and we all fluctuate from a "stable" line. The only difference is in the extremity in that fluctuation. It is also about the fact that being on that continuum is "human". Getting folk to acknowledge that in our promotion is crucial. Something like "The Mental Health Ride -We Are All On It" and perhaps further explain how to take measures to get back to a more comfortable ride, when we do fluctuate. Hope this provides food for thought.
Stu
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It amazes me how many people will say "I could never get depressed" or "I could never kill myself" which to me is as ridiculous as saying "I'll never get cancer", people really do believe that mental distress is something which 'other' people experience. Even some trainees who will later work in mental health services can state they have internal resources which are unbreakable, therefore it begs the question how will they then view their service users?
Mental health should be viewed as continuum but it isn't and this reflected in every policy and throughout society.
I don't see awareness of mental health improving with some of the very worst attitudes within government, the media and health service management. Disability hate crimes are on the increase and Scope have made the link between that and media reporting on benefit scroungers which goes unchallenged, just as welfare reform had complete all party support. People with visible and visible disabilities and mental health difficulties feel like public property now and it seems more dangerous than its been for many years. This has been communicated but the ears of power have decided not to hear it so I'm not sure what will make the difference -
I've yet to see high profile billboard posters about the early warning signs of, say, depression, for instance. I have seen eyecatching billboards raising awareness of strokes, heartattacks, asthma, diabetes, and other long-term physiological problems
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Stu your comments are interesting, but I'm not in agreement with the idea of mental health continuim. I read an interesting article on this from the on line magazine spiked.co.uk. Of course nobody likes the idea of the polorisation of 'mentally ill' and 'normal' but we have to accept that most people for whatever reason manage their lives without any recourse to mental health services. That I beleive is because those of us who suffer these conditions as a result of things that have happened to us plus their may also be a biological aspect many have a parent who suffered too. If someone says 'I'll never get depressed' then they are lucky because the mindset they have they have internalised has come from positive experiences. So it is no good suggesting that we all have mental health problems to some degree it just is not the case, my experience tells me this. And it will not reduce stigma only trivialise problems in the 'pull yourself together' attitude. Having said that I do think the medical model has a lot of faults because once someone is labelled with a mental illness it is that that becomes the focus of their whole personality hence sectioning/ct orders etc. I do not think the public will accept the continium because they fear being labelled themselves and the implications that will have
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Linda - I said that we are all on a mental health continuum and never suggested we all have mental health "problems" . Some do lead a life where they stay on the relatively "healthy" margins. The thing is we all have the potential to fluctuate. I am uncomfortable with the medical model and its labels also any notion that mental health conditions have a biological "cause". I do believe that our biology can "contribute" alongside other factors. I cannot really see a danger of the "pull yourself together" attitude emerging -it is there how it stands anyway after years of domination by the "medical model". To say we all have mental health that can fluctuate and at times gets very distressing for some will , I am certain, help break down certain "us and them" barriers which never help anybody. I suffered labels 30 years after a bad mental health event, so I understand that. Perhaps the public have to face the "fact" that they could have bad mental health events at certain points in their life.
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Stu & Linda - I did mental health training for some call centre staff in a council office. One of the things I did was take away the dividing line between poor mental health and good mental health just by talking. We discussed what exactly was hearing voices (people can use that as a broad term to cover any noise) and the person who heard a door continually slamming when she was stressed felt reassured that other people heard similar things. She couldn't be deemed mentally ill nor did she consider herself to have poor mental health but she demonstrated clearly that mental health is a continuum and that we can be anywhere on the spectrum at any time.
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Forgive me. I think your survey, which I have just completed, is rather shameful. Clearly drawn up and aimed at mentally happy and richer people than me. And perhaps it should only be sent to people without mental health issues. Third question is will I give money to Mind. Money worries and unemployment are what my doctors call the trigger for me. Another suggests the NHS makes me ill. It doesn't. It helps me. Critical care at St Thomas' and at The York Clinic at Guys in London. And from my much loved and respected GP. No it's not perfect but it has saved my life. Twice. And a campaign to see someone sympathetic within weeks is plainly silly for any one who's been there when the 'nothingness' is greatest. Hours not weeks saves lives. Actually it's the instant anyone is brave enough to call out for help. You will never change the world. You might change 'One' world.
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Cecilia - your experience matches my experience working as a Samaritan and counsellor for Mind - packed in recently as felt I was "burning out" :-(. That is where the idea of a continuum comes from having worked for 12 years on and off. Also from personal experience as a youth and "learnng" I was mad and believing it. I saw me and "normal people" and by that very seperation, I re-enforced the labels and isolated myself for years. I now know that seperation is not only phony but potentially destructive. Feelings too are now "very human" and not "evidence of "madness" I allow myself to have them without judging and putting myself in a box. I know when I drift from the comfortable line and thankfully know generally what to do. I am lucky.Labels is for beans :-)
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Hi Steve. Thank you for taking the time to fill out the survey and I am really very sorry if you found it distressing. I appreciate your comments.
People with mental health problems are absolutely at the heart of everything we do, which is why we wanted your input on the messages and how they represent the issues you face. These are early drafts, to be reviewed following research, and all the comments and feedback we've had so far will be taken into consideration.
You're right, some of the posters are aimed at people who haven't experienced mental health problems themselves. To change society's attitudes and behaviour, we need to target these groups and get them thinking about the issues. At the same time, Mind is an independent charity so to continue doing the work we do, we need to encourage those who can afford it to donate.
It's great that you have had such a positive experience of health services - we certainly wouldn't want to give the impression that we think all hospitals are bad. But during the research for our Care in Crisis campaign we've heard many stories from people who feel that their time in hospital was not a good experience. Similarly, some people wait years for access to talking therapies, so even a wait of weeks would be a huge improvement.
Ultimately, we want to change the world and see everyone experiencing a mental health problem get the support the need and the respect they deserve. In real terms, of course this will be a long, long process. But I'd like to think we'll keep on trying.
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Hi Cecilia
Thanks for your feedback on the Time to Change dating ad, and we're sorry if you found it upsetting.
The aim of the ad was to prompt the public to think about how they behave towards people with mental health problems in everyday life. Would they date someone with a mental health problem? If not, why not? In thinking about these situations, people start thinking about their own attitudes and behaviour towards those of us with mental health problems – and our research showed that the campaign successfully encouraged many who saw it to change their behaviour in some way.
Erik and the others who were involved in the campaign volunteered to take part as they wanted to help highlight the stigma and discrimination that people face. The target audience for the Time to Change campaign is people who haven’t experienced mental health problems themselves, as it's their attitudes we need to address in order to tackle discrimination. But we always aim to involve people who have mental health problems, and to ensure we’re representing the issues they face. So keep the feedback coming, as it will help us to learn and develop our future campaigns.
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I feel work has to be done with employers in particular HR departments to emphasise that many people living with mental health difficulties (or whatever we like to call it) are able to hold down employment. I have a 2:1 degree and a background in nursing and mental health but still feel the support is not there. I have time off like any one else with sickness yet my mental health condition sees to be treated in a different way as though I am a criminal. It is worrying that at the current time the government wants people on long term sick back in work but first it must communicate with employers so the support is there. Use stories where people have returned after a long illness.
Another area is TV....although there is more on mental health than years ago a positive advertisement is required. To be honest I am still not sure how effective the time to change adverts are particularily the interactive web based ones. I first becam ill nearly 30 years ago and am lucky I am in work but media footage wide scale is the only way to break the cycle of dispair many still feel. -
Service users have got bigger problems right now - loss of services/support/welfare assessments and loss of benefits/continued and endless reassessments with difficulty in accessing CAB/legal aid support/threats & sanctions to get into non-existent jobs/threats to housing/employers simply not wanting anyone with psych records/discrimination within the health service, local and national government and the media - all of which goes mostly unchallenged.
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also drama - medical soaps offer some of the worst stereotypes of mental health issues, notably with BPD and self-harm - these characters are typically portrayed as manipulative killers or sad idiots - a far cry from reality and utterly insulting to anyone with that diagnosis.
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I get a bit foggy sometimes with all the words used to describe mental health. Its good to have stark images and very simple captions instructing people
to be careful with the disabled. Cutting through the fogit would be good to see a newspaper front page with a load of celebs with mh all piping up together. You know when you get lots of little pictures on one page. And inside a bit about how each one managed to do so well.
I haven't recieved the link yet so ill let you know about that
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