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Supporting employees with mental illness and reducing mental illness-related stigma in the workplace: an expert survey.

ABSTRACT: An expert survey was designed to support the development of a workplace-based multi-country intervention tackling depression, anxiety, and mental illness-related stigma in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Academic experts and representatives of SME organisations, specific sector organisations, labour or advocacy groups, and occupational health organisations, were contacted across eight European countries and Australia. The survey comprised closed and open text questions to assess expert opinion about interventions for employees with mental health difficulties, interventions supporting their managers, and anti-stigma interventions. The survey was available in six languages. The online platform Qualtrics was used for data collection. Quantitative data was analysed through descriptive statistics and qualitative data was analysed through thematic analysis. Sixty-five of 146 experts responded, representing a 42% response rate. Results showed only 26.2% of experts agreed that employees could speak openly about mental health issues, and 81.5% of experts indicated a large or medium unmet need for support for employees with mental health issues. Psychoeducational materials, face-to-face workshops and interventions based on cognitive behavioural therapy were ranked most likely to be taken up by employees. Experts rated as most useful for managers' guidelines on how to act if an employee has mental health issues (67.7%). The greatest number of experts indicated workshops of people with lived experience of mental illness (80.0%) and awareness campaigns (78.5%) were most required to tackle stigma. Responses were consistent between experts from different countries and areas of expertise. Experts in this multinational survey assessed that interventions supporting mental health in the workplace and tackling stigma are greatly needed. A multicomponent intervention with a wide range of materials and tools is supported.

SUBMITTER: Hogg B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9305029 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Supporting employees with mental illness and reducing mental illness-related stigma in the workplace: an expert survey.

Hogg Bridget B Moreno-Alcázar Ana A Tóth Mónika Ditta MD Serbanescu Ilinca I Aust Birgit B Leduc Caleb C Paterson Charlotte C Tsantilla Fotini F Abdulla Kahar K Cerga-Pashoja Arlinda A Cresswell-Smith Johanna J Fanaj Naim N Meksi Andia A Ni Dhalaigh Doireann D Reich Hanna H Ross Victoria V Sanches Sarita S Thomson Katherine K Van Audenhove Chantal C Pérez Victor V Arensman Ella E Purebl Gyorgy G Amann Benedikt L BL

European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience 20220722 3

An expert survey was designed to support the development of a workplace-based multi-country intervention tackling depression, anxiety, and mental illness-related stigma in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Academic experts and representatives of SME organisations, specific sector organisations, labour or advocacy groups, and occupational health organisations, were contacted across eight European countries and Australia. The survey comprised closed and open text questions to assess expe ...[more]

PMID: 35867155

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Project description:AimsMental health-related stigma is a major challenge associated with the huge mental health treatment gap. It has remained unclear what kind of educational content is effective in reducing the stigma. Whether biomedical messages (BMM) about mental illness are effective or harmful in decreasing stigma is controversial. To investigate whether BMM can improve practically useful knowledge of mental illness, comparably to recommended messages (RCM) advocated by experts, of types such as 'recovery-oriented', 'social inclusion/human rights' and 'high prevalence of mental illnesses' through a randomised controlled trial (RCT).MethodThis study is an individual-level RCT with a parallel-group design over 1 year, conducted in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 179 participants (males n = 80, mean age = 21.9 years and s.d. = 7.8) were recruited in high schools and universities, and through a commercial internet advertisement in June and July 2017, without any indication that the study appertained to mental health. Participants were allocated to the BMM and RCM groups. They underwent a 10-min intervention, and completed self-report questionnaires during baseline, post-test, 1-month follow-up and 1-year follow-up surveys. The primary outcome measures were practically useful knowledge of mental illness at the post-test survey using the Mental Illness and Disorder Understanding Scale (MIDUS). Analysis was conducted in October 2018.ResultsBoth groups demonstrated improved MIDUS score in the post-test survey, and showed similar intervention effects (F(1, 177) = 160.5, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.48). The effect of the interventions continued until the 1-year follow-up survey (B [95% CI] = -2.56 [-4.27, -0.85], p < 0.01), and showed no difference between groups. The reported adverse effect that BMM increase stigma was not confirmed.ConclusionsBMM may have a positive impact on stigma, comparable to RCM. These findings may encourage reconsideration of the content of messages about mental health, as it is indicated that combining BMM and RCM might contribute to an effective anti-stigma programme.

Project description:AimsPublic stigma alters attitudes towards people with mental illness, and is a particular concern for young people since most mental health problems occur in adolescence and young adulthood. However, little is known about the long-term effects of repeated filmed social contact (FSC) on reducing mental health-related stigma among young adults in the general population, compared with self-instructional Internet search (INS) and control interventions.MethodsThis study is a parallel-group randomised controlled trial over 12 months conducted in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 259 university students (male n = 150, mean age = 20.0 years, s.d. = 1.2) were recruited from 20 colleges and universities between November 2013 and July 2014, without being provided information about the mental health-related survey or trial. Participants were assigned to one of three groups before completion of the baseline survey (FSC/INS/control = 89/83/87). The FSC group received a computer-based 30-min social contact film with general mental health education and five follow-up web-based FSCs at 2-month intervals. The INS group undertook a 30-min search for mental health-related information with five follow-up web-based reminders for self-instructional searches at 2-month intervals. The control group played PC games and had no follow-up intervention. The main outcome measures were the future (intended behaviour) domain of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale at 12 months after the intervention. Analysis was conducted in September 2015.ResultsAt the 12-month follow-up, 218 participants completed the survey (84.1%, 75:70:73). The FSC group showed the greatest change at the 12-month follow-up (FSC: mean change 2.11 [95% CI 1.49, 2.73], INS: 1.04 [0.29, 1.80], control: 0.71 [0.09, 1.33]; FSC v. INS p = 0.037, FSC v. controls p = 0.004). No adverse events were reported during the follow-up period.ConclusionsFSC was more successful in reducing stigma at 12 months after intervention than INS or control interventions. FSC could be used to reduce stigma in educational lectures and anti-stigma campaigns targeted at young people.Study registrationThis study is registered at UMIN-CTR (No. UMIN000012239).

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Dataset Information

Supporting employees with mental illness and reducing mental illness-related stigma in the workplace: an expert survey.

Publications

Supporting employees with mental illness and reducing mental illness-related stigma in the workplace: an expert survey.

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