Impact of a population‐wide mental health promotion campaign on people with a diagnosed mental illness or recent mental health problem

• Main Authors: Rob Donovan (Author), Geoffrey Jalleh (Author), Katy Robinson (Author), Chad Lin (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2016-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 1753-6405; 1326-0200; 10.1111/1753-6405.12514
• Keywords: mental health promotion; campaign evaluation; empowerment; mental illness prevention; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Vol 40, Iss 3, Pp 274-275 (2016)

Abstract Objectives: To determine the impact of the Act‐Belong‐Commit mental health promotion campaign on people with a diagnosed mental illness or who had sought professional help for a mental health problem in the previous 12 months. Method: In 2013 and 2014, 1,200 adults in Western Australia were interviewed by telephone. The questionnaire measured campaign reach, impact on beliefs about mental health and mental illness and behavioural impact. Results: Campaign impact on changing the way respondents thought about mental health was significantly higher among those with a mental illness or who had sought help (41.4% vs 24.2%; p<0.001), as was doing something for their mental health as a result of their exposure to the campaign (20.5% vs 8.7%; p<0.001). Conclusions: The campaign appears to empower people with a mental illness or who recently sought help to take steps of their own to enhance their mental health.