Shift is an initiative to tackle stigma and discrimination surrounding
mental health issues in England. Our aim is to create a society where
people who experience mental health problems enjoy the same rights and
opportunities as other people.

Shift has been extended to 2011 and has made much progress so far this
year and will be showcasing its programme at several national
conferences this year.

++ Media ++

We are delivering training on reporting mental illness and suicide to
trainee journalists at post-graduate and vocational journalism
colleges and universities. The workshops have received very positive
feedback.

We are working closely with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and
leading mental health charities to change the news agenda around
mental illness and violence. We intend to get across the 'other side
of the story', stressing that most people with mental health problems
are not violent, when the media reports on homicides perpetrated by
mental health patients. This collaborative project, called 'Context',
is due to be up and running later this year.

We have commissioned the charity Ok2b to run a web-based 'Stigma
Watch' system, enabling people to praise and complain about media
coverage. It is due to launch in the summer 2009.

We will be publishing a package of research about the media this
summer. It will include 'Mind over Matter III', our annual analysis of
media coverage. This report analyses coverage from March and October
2007 to see if there has been any improvement in coverage compared to
the previous two years.  To download a copy of the last report,
visit:http://snipurl.com/mindovermatter2.

The research will also include the findings of focus groups, held to
examine the role of the media in the shaping public fears of people
with mental health problems, as well as a survey of how well newspaper
readers think their paper covers mental health.

Previous work includes the publication earlier this year of 'What's
the story?', a guide for journalists on reporting mental illness and
suicide. To find out more about What's the Story, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/mediahandbook

Shift is continuing to operate its Speakers Bureau, a bank of 50
people with mental health problems and carers who talk to the media.
To find out more about the Shift Speakers' Bureau, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/speakersbureau

++ Black and Minority Ethnic Communities ++

Shift has commissioned several organisations to undertake work on
Black and Minority Ethnic issues because people with mental health
problems from these communities often experience a double stigma -
racial discrimination, as well as discrimination because of their
mental ill-health.

The Newcastle and Gateshead Art Studio 'Black and White' photographic
exhibition has been produced by members of a community group in
Newcastle. The photographs have been exhibited in North east England
and will soon be available for exhibitions. The photos are available
via the Shift website - http://shift.org.uk/work/bme/blackwhite.

Community Development Workers are piloting the Award winning Short
Film 'Open Secrets' about shame and mental illness in a middle class
Asian family. The film was publicly launched at the Fourth Annual
Delivering Race Equality conference on 12 March 2009 and has received
very positive feedback. DVDs of the film are now being sent to all
Community Development Workers. The trailer for 'Open Secrets' is being
shown at Shift exhibition stands at numerous National conferences
around England and on the website: www.shift.org.uk/work/bme/index.html
&nbsp. The full film will be available to view via the website from
the spring.  Interested parties should contact their Community
Development Worker for hard copies from 1st May.

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust have completed their
Qualitative and Quantitative Research Project looking at the coverage
of mental health stories in African Caribbean media.

Ethnic Communications have completed a Qualitative Research Project
looking at the handling of mental health content in the South Asian
media. We plan to make the findings of this and the other media
related research projects public this spring.

Shift is continuing to work with the Department of Health and the
Delivering Race Equality team to develop additional media materials.

++ Employment ++

Over 30,000 copies of the Shift Line Manager's Resource, guidance for
line managers on handling mental health problems in the workplace,
have been distributed to employers across England, particularly to
ones in the public sector.  Shift is promoting the resources at a wide
range of national events. For free copies of the guidance, email
employment@nmhdu.org.uk or go to http://www.shift.org.uk/employers

An independent expert panel, The Shift Review Panel, has been set up
to review guidance on mental health and employment and help guide
employers through the wealth of existing advice. The panel, hosted by
the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, includes experts from
academia, business and the public sector. These 'qulaity checked'
materials are now available via the Shift website at http://shift.org.uk/reviewpanel.

One of the most recently reviewed resources has been 'Mental Health at
Work', by Durham Dales PCT, now part of County Durham PCT which the
review panel has described as; 'An excellent on-line resource - free,
comprehensive, providing information to line managers on how to
support staff with a mental health problem. The resource is
interactive which encourages managers to consider what they would do
in different situations, before providing best practice guidelines.'
The scenario-based exercises are on: managing absence and return to
work, recruitment and dealing with a distressed member of staff.

Three short, humorous films about managing mental health problems at
work have been developed as a way of reaching out to employers and
staff who have not yet engaged with the issue. The films, which can be
viewed by employers and staff on the Internet, can be used as part of
training or promotional activity and are now being disseminated with a
package of awareness raising and educational tools. The Life in the
Office Film trailers are being shown at Shift exhibition stands at
numerous National Conferences in England. The films and the training
package are now available on the Shift website at www.shift.org.uk.
The films are also available on DVD which you can also order for Free

To find out more about our employment work, visit: http://www.shift.org.uk/work/employment

++ Football ++

Work is continuing to ensure football is used to improve the well-being of people with mental health problems and breakdown discrimination.

A 'Mental Health Advisory Group', set-up in partnership with Shift,
the FA, PFA, Premier League, Football Foundation and Sporting Chance,
is taking forward this work.

For more information about ‘Mad About Football’, including photos and video, visit:
http://shift.org.uk/madaboutfootball

To find out more about our sports work, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/work/sport

++ Shift on the Web ++

Visit Shift website here:http://www.shift.org.uk

Facebook members can follow our work here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shift/18052500287

See our bookmarks on Delicious here:http://delicious.com/shiftstigma

Follow our Twitter feed here:http://twitter.com/shiftstigma

Find out about the other social networks that we use:
http://shift.org.uk/getinvolved/files/socialnetworks.html

++ Get Involved ++

The Shift website lists a number of ways in which you can help us with
the work that we do.

To find out more, please visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/getinvolved

Tags: shift, update