Anti-stigma pilot project in Kampala
Mental Health Uganda in partnership with Time to Change – TTC UK and CBM UK through their Kampala office, implemented a pilot project to address stigma around mental health. The programme was funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office / UK Department of Health and Social Care and Comic Relief.
According to the United Nations, 1 in 4 people around the world will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime. It is common that these people will face isolation, exclusion from work and family, increased poverty and other abuses of their human rights because of their mental health problems. This global response program was launched in 2018 after more than 10 years of successfully implementing the same model in the UK; and it shared three core elements:
Lived experience leadership: People with personal experiences of mental health problems (we call them ‘Champions’) shape and lead all that we do.
Social contact: This was the maiden campaign of this nature in Uganda, whereby 20 Champions deliberately shared their experiences with people without experience of mental health problems, on varied occasions and via different platforms in and around Kampala, with the aim of challenging negative attitudes and behaviours. Social Contact is by far the most effective approach for disclosure and subsequently accessing care and treatment following referrals, for either the persons engaged in discussions or affected dependents. The open sharing by Champions builds confidence and triggers discussions on a topic that would otherwise never feature.
Social marketing: These were public campaigns, which allowed us to reach more people, increase knowledge and change perceptions. By understanding the views of our target audience, we ensure that our messages and channels are effective in delivering attitude and behaviour change. We undertook a social marketing campaign (dubbed “kyogereko” or “speak up”) between January and February 2020, in Kampala, targeting youth between the ages of 18 – 25 years, with specific messaging.
Alongside Uganda, this pilot campaign was implemented in India, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. This project laid the foundation for our lived experience leadership for young people which has evolved to become the bedrock of our programs.