While the saying goes that only sticks and stones may break your bones, the truth is that words and language can have a truly detrimental impact on people’s wellbeing. In regard to mental health, the stigma that those words can have on someone can have a far-reaching impact.
Many times, the stigma created by these words are unintentional and said with no malice, however the shame and the hurt they cause can act as compounding factors that make people less likely to seek help when needed.
Which is why the Shatter the Stigma campaign is so necessary.
Wanting to foster a stigma-free environment in their emergency department, Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS) approached peer-worker Debbie Lattimore to deliver a presentation about stigma. This presentation was so impactful, that the local team wanted to explore how to embed it locally.
“That initial presentation led to our local executive wanting to raise awareness of the importance of reducing stigma for our staff,” Ms Lattimore said.
“Our first event involved getting some t-shirts and encouraging local staff to make a pledge for what they could do to shatter stigmatising behaviours in their local area.”
The grassroots campaign was so successful that Debbie was asked to present at a mental health forum, where the team at Wide Bay HHS realised they too wanted to be the change locally.
That spark from Mackay exploded across all Wide Bay facilities, growing into champions networks, waiting room signage and service dedicated to removing stigma. The key, local lead Fiona Prescott says, is having not just an engaged workforce but top-down support from their executive team.
“While our champions and staff promote the shatter the stigma message every day, it is knowing that our executives value the campaign and support us to take that time to be the change that has really helped it grow,” Fiona said.
“The campaign is an embedded part of Wide Bay’s culture now and by improving things within our facilities, we hope that the shatter the stigma message grows out into the community and can lead to a stigma free world.”
The success of these local campaigns is thankfully only the beginning, as our Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Branch look to take it statewide.
“The more we can reduce this stigma, the easier it becomes for people to start talking about their mental health challenges, and alcohol and drug issues to get the help that they may need,” Executive Director Dr John Allan said.
The Shatter the Stigma episode of Clinical Excellence Stories is now live on the Clinical Excellence Showcase website.
