CIHR Project
CIHR ‘STOPPING THE STIGMA’ PROJECT
PROJECT SUMMARY
Mental illness is surrounded by damaging myths, harmful stigmas and erroneous stereotypes. From 2015 to 2019, we ran an innovative citizen journalism/ participatory video project with funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
In this project, we assembled and trained three workgroups of people with mental illness (Montreal, Toronto, Halifax) in scripting, filming and editing videos. The workgroups were then tasked with creating a series of educational videos designed to raise awareness of core issues, reduce stigma, and enlighten people about the realities of mental illness.
During this project, the workgroups produced a total of 26 films and we held 49 organized screenings with panel discussions to over 1500 attendees across Canada. These screenings included higher education institutions such as Ryerson University School of Journalism, medical audiences including the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Toronto) and the general public, for example Halifax Public Library.
We evaluated the impact of the project on participants and viewers using social scientific measures. Results were overwhelmingly positive, which we describe in several published academic articles. For one, people who viewed the videos reported improved understandings and reduced stigma towards people with mental illness. Importantly, the group members themselves reported that participation in the project contributed positively to their recovery, through skill-acquisition, connectedness, and personal development.
All our videos can be watched below and on our YouTube channel recoverymentalhealth