This document discusses reducing stigma related to mental illness through advertising. It notes that 1 in 4 Americans has a mental illness but stigma leads people to see those with mental illness as dangerous, incapable, or victims. Stigma also causes discrimination and hinders diagnosis and treatment. The document suggests advertising can help by sharing success stories that establish goals of improving attitudes, increasing willingness to disclose issues, and promoting anti-stigma engagement. It provides examples of campaigns like Bring Change 2 Mind and organizations in various countries that are working to address stigma through educational resources and outreach.
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Fighting Stigma
1. 1
PREPARED BY
Using Advertising Theory and
Practice to Improve Healthcare
Delivery and Quality of Life
@MARSINTHESTARS
March 25, 2017
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ADVERTISING
Marli Mesibov, Director of Content Strategy
5. 5
• Believing people with mental illnesses are
dangerous
• Determining that people with mental
illnesses are incapable of making life
decisions
• Assuming people with mental illnesses are
victims who need to be cared for
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
Stigma Means:
6. 6
“…Discrimination is also about the conditions
in which our patients live, mental health
budgets and the priority which we allow these
services to achieve.”
– Peter Byrne, BJPsych Advances
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
Stigma Leads to Discrimination
8. 8
• Physicians are reluctant to ask, and thus
can’t diagnose
• Patients feel shame in admitting to
mental illness, which hinders finding
treatment
• Diagnosed patients experience exclusion,
poor social support, and low self-
esteem, which impedes recovery
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
We Can’t Face What We Ignore
15. 15
• Do something visible
• Plan ahead
o Create a campaign
o Partner with organizations
• Identify an action item
o Wear the pin
o Make the video
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
Where are the Patterns?
16. 16
1. improve attitudes towards people with
mental health problems
2. increase patient willingness to disclose
mental health problems
3. promote behavior associated with anti-
stigma engagement
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
Goals
17. 17
Bring Change 2 Mind
• Distributing public education materials
• Founded by Glenn Close’s family
Heads Together (UK)
• Spearheaded by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince
Harry
• Creating films and messages
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
Who’s Doing This?
18. 18
Make It OK
• Provides resources for patients and allies
See Me (Scotland)
• Provides educational resources
• Funded by the Scottish Government
Time to Change (UK)
• Provides resources for patients and allies
• Focuses on educating the media, offering interviews, etc
Mad*Pow | @marsinthestars
Who’s Doing This?
More prevalent than asthma
Raise hand if you know someone has asthma
Raise your hand if you know someone who has a mental illness (fewer? More? Should be double)
Diverse, like physical ailments
- When you don’t talk about it, rumors start and spread
Discrimination isn’t always bad
But it is bad when different means lesser, or us v. them
They are scary
They are pathetic
They are bad
Friends/kids hear “they” and worry that it will be them
Leads to lower quality of life
Fewer opportunities and access to care
Is this the only way to deal with mental illness?
Who’s seen this in a movie or book? Most of us
Structural stigma in social and institutional policies creates barriers
Lack of parity between coverage for mental health and other health care
Lack of funding for mental health research
Use of mental health history in legal proceedings, such as custody cases
Social stigma
poor social support
poorer subjective quality of life
low self-esteem
Three examples of marketing campaigns that reduced stigma and encouraged discussion, fund raising, education, and change
The opposite of hiding is sharing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMnb536WuC0
- Norman Fowler, Health Secretary under Margaret Thatcher, responding to the mid-1980s epidemic.
- “he wanted to cut through the prejudice and push the message that AIDS could affect any sexually active person, regardless of sexuality”
Created AIDS leaflet to be delivered to every household in the UK spelling out in straightforward language what they needed to know
Thatcher and other protested, thought it was “inappropriate”
Maybe it succeeded in part because it was shocking!
But also because it was everywhere
- ‘new diagnoses of HIV, which were over 3,000 in 1985, dropped by a third in three years. The number of new diagnoses stayed relatively stable until 1999’.
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Mid-1980s, beginning of cause-related marketing
Carol Cone’s research proved at the same cost and quality, >50% of consumers would switch to a brand with a good cause.
1990 Komen handed out bright pink visors to breast cancer survivors running in its Race for the Cure
Inspired by red ribbons used to signify support of AIDS victims
1991 Avon was competing against 15 medium-to-large companies. Carol Cone suggested a good cause, they started selling a pin with their products
1992 Estée Lauder introduced a heart-shaped compact with an enameled pink ribbon design, profits to go to its Breast Cancer Research Fund
Susan G. Komen Foundation began offering a pink rhinestone brooch designed by Carolee Jewelry
Today there are 80 to 100 companies involved
Everyone associates pink ribbon with breast cancer
Because large companies made it ubiquitous (to make a profit!)
More recent (2014)
Raised more than $50 million for the ALS Association
The myth: “ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi says that it began “with one name”: Pete Frates. A former Boston College baseball player, Frates was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. On July 31 2014, he challenged some friends and celebrities (including NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Ryan) to take the ice bucket challenge to “strike out ALS.”
It’s visible, it’s emotional, it’s unexpected, there are celebs, and there’s a clear CTA (basic marketing!!)
VIRAL – what does this mean?
Jonah Berger, “Contagious”
Partner with those that can fund
Bring together groups already working for change (we don’t always need something brand new)