Examining the Impact of This Is My Brave on Mental Illness Stigma and Willingness to Seek Help: A Pilot Study

This Is My Brave (TIMB) is a contact-based mental illness stigma reduction program, set in theaters, meant to reduce stigma, increase beliefs about empowerment and recovery, and improve attitudes towards treatment seeking for mental health concerns. The authors conducted the first empirical evaluati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Community mental health journal 2018-04, Vol.54 (3), p.276-281
Main Authors: Kosyluk, Kristin, Marshall, Jennifer, Macias, Diana Rivera, Andrus, Donald, Guerra, Daniela, Robinson, Megan, Ostos, Antonia, Chapman, Stephanie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitudes
Audiences
Community and Environmental Psychology
Community Mental Health Services
Empowerment
Female
Health behavior
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Health problems
Health promotion
Health Promotion - methods
Help seeking behavior
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental health services
Middle Aged
Original Paper
Patient Acceptance of Health Care - psychology
Pilot Projects
Polls & surveys
Power (Psychology)
Psychiatry
Public opinion
Recovery
Recovery (Medical)
Social Stigma
Stereotyping
Stigma
Surveys and Questionnaires
Theater
United States
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Summary:This Is My Brave (TIMB) is a contact-based mental illness stigma reduction program, set in theaters, meant to reduce stigma, increase beliefs about empowerment and recovery, and improve attitudes towards treatment seeking for mental health concerns. The authors conducted the first empirical evaluation of TIMB using a pre-post survey design. Approximately 481 audience members of TIMB performances were invited to complete a survey of stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness, beliefs about recovery and empowerment, and willingness to seek treatment at pre-and post-performance. Analyses of responses from 372 participants using paired samples t-tests revealed changes in the desired direction on all variables from pre-test to post-test. Audience members experienced a decrease in stigma, improvements in beliefs about recovery and empowerment, and greater willingness to seek treatment. TIMB is a promising stigma-reduction program and there is a need for a more detailed investigation of the program’s impact using more rigorous methodology.
ISSN:0010-3853
1573-2789
DOI:10.1007/s10597-018-0238-8