Sweden: Ambassadors challenging discrimination

Sweden is now planning diverse new programme, influenced by both Time to Change and the See Me campaign in Scotland. Above all, ambassadors with own experience of mental health problems will play a key part of the Swedish campaign.

About 100 people with experience of mental health problems will be trained for the ambassadorship. The campaign will then hold events where the ambassadors can speak to people without experience of mental health problems, or of the impact of stigma and discrimination, including professionals working both in psychiatry and in general healthcare. Ambassadors will also meet journalists to influence the way in which mental illness is portrayed in the media, and the type of mental health stories that are covered.

"Recent research shows that mental illness is becoming more common in our society. Far too many people feel ashamed and afraid to tell anyone about their problems. Nine out of ten say that they experience ignorance, negative attitudes and discrimination . Some people's lives are ruined. We need to do something about that," explains Rickard Bracken, project manager at Handisam, the Swedish Agency for Disability Policy Coordination.

Handisam is one of two organisations behind the Swedish campaign. The other is NSPH, a recently established network of 14 organizations for service users and carers. The organizations normally work around specific diagnoses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, Aspergers, compulsory disorders or suicide, but within the network they focus on issues common to everyone with mental health problems.

The Swedish government awarded Handisam and NSPH the assignment to develop the campaign in late February 2009, with the programme announced publicly on 1 October. The campaign will run during 2010 and 2011 with a budget of £2 million.

"Since we didn't have much time for planning, we have really relied on what we've learned from international research and your experiences at both Time to Change and Scotland's See Me campaign," says Rickard Bracken.
The Swedish campaign will also include a social marketing campaign, local activities and initiatives, and a pledge for employers to start working for better mental health in the workplace. The aim is to build sustainable structures that will last beyond 2011, which is why the campaign is putting significant resource into the ambassadorship scheme.

Other aims:

• To encourage at least10,000 people to take action to shift attitudes and decrease discrimination .
  " To increase the number of articles and shows in the media where people with experience of mental illness tell their stories.
• To create a 5% positive shift in attitudes towards people with mental illness or mental disability.
  " To create a 5% positive shift in behaviour towards people with mental health problems.
• To encourage at least 200 organizations to start working for better mental health.
  This is not the first campaign of this kind in Sweden.

In 2000, the government funded a similar campaign and in 1997 an initiative was funded and run by a service user organization for people with schizophrenia. However, the new campaign aims to be more sustainable, and to focus more on local activities such as the initiatives, to embed change within communities.

"It would be nice to see a more sustainable effort. Previous Swedish campaigns have lasted for just one or two years. And learning from Time to Change, See Me in Scotland and the Like Minds, Like Mine campaign in New Zeeland shows that you need to run campaigns over a much longer period of time to have a real impact," concludes Rickard Bracken.