Project Description
Organization:
California Mental Health Services Authority
Summary:
As part of the larger Prevention & Early Intervention strategies being implemented in California, the California Mental Health Services Authority is implementing an education campaign to address misconceptions about mental illness and reduce the effects of mental illness stigma and discrimination. The campaign is multi-pronged. First, it includes a social marketing campaign on suicide prevention, which is translated into Spanish and seven Asian languages. The second component is a documentary on mental illness and recovery, which aired on PBS; related community screenings and dialogues were held. Third, they are implementing non-traditional educational campaigns, including plays and video contests, in schools to teach about suicide prevention and stigma reduction. All of the activities have some short-term evaluation showing increased knowledge and capacity.