Shift Update: October 2009
02 October 2009
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
will run until March 31st 2011.
Shift has provided media training to psychiatrists from the Royal College of Psychiatrists to help them set news stories about mental illness and violence in context. Spokespeople from the College are now commentating on homicide stories, including for instance the recent 'Peter Bryan' homicide inquiry, stressing that most people with mental health problems are not violent. This is part of wider efforts to get across the 'other side of the story', when the media reports on homicides perpetrated by mental health patients, by supporting NHS trusts involved in homicide cases. We are also lobbying the Press Complaints Commission to provide better guidance to newspaper editors on reporting these stories and representing mental illness.
We are again delivering our popular workshops on reporting mental illness and suicide to trainee journalists at more than a dozen postgraduate and vocational journalism colleges and universities from the new academic year.
The charity Ok2b has been commissioned to run a web-based 'Stigma Watch' system called Words Matter, enabling people to praise and complain about media coverage. It will be marketed to service users and relevant mental health related organisations later this year.
Shift will be publishing a package of research about the media this winter. It will include 'Mind over Matter III', our annual analysis of media coverage. This report analyses coverage from March and October 2008. It will be compared against reports from the previous three years to see if there have been any improvements. 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. It will also include the findings of research into how the mental health of Black and Minority Ethnic groups are reported in Black and Minority Ethnic and mainstream press.
To download a copy of the last Mind Over Matter report, visit:
http://snipurl.com/mindovermatter2
Shift is continuing to operate its Speakers Bureau, a bank of 50 people with mental health problems and carers who talk to the media. 10 more speakers from across England are being recruited to the bureau.
To find out more about the Shift Speakers' Bureau, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/speakersbureau
Shift is also promoting our 'What's the story?' guidance for journalists on reporting mental illness and suicide at the National Union of Journalists and the Society of Editors annual conferences. To find out more about What's the Story, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/mediahandbook
Four regional training days are being organised for Community Development Workers about using Open Secrets to raise awareness and reduce stigma and discrimination. These will be held between November and December 2009. Shift and the DRE programme are planning to provide CDWs with a stock of compilation DVDs of different films about mental health experiences and people from BME communities. These will be accompanied by pause & talk guides developed to assist CDWs in using video as a way of increasing awareness and challenging discrimination. The opportunity, once trained, will be for CDWs to lead regional and local stakeholder events between January and March 2010 using the compilation DVD supplied by Shift/DRE. Shift and DRE plan to have web- based library of films available for CDWs from March 2010.
The award winning film Open Secrets was publicly launched at the Fourth Annual Delivering Race Equality conference on 12 March 2009 and has received very positive feedback. The trailer for 'Open Secrets' is available on the Shift website and is being shown at Shift exhibition stands at numerous National conferences around England. Interested parties should contact their Community Development Worker to view the film.
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. The photos are available via the Shift website:
http://shift.org.uk/work/bme/blackwhite
The findings from the two media research projects undertaken last year are being incorporated into a comprehensive review of mental health and the media (see Media section above).
An independent expert panel, The Shift Review Panel, was set up last year to review guidance on mental health and employment to help employers access the most appropriate resources for their organisation. The panel, hosted by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, includes experts from academia, business and the public sector. These 'quality checked' materials are now available via the Shift website:
http://shift.org.uk/reviewpanel
Three short films called 'Life in the Office' have been produced to raise awareness of mental health problems at work to help reach 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
For more information about our work with football, including photos and video, visit:
http://shift.org.uk/madaboutfootball
Shift is also running a workshop and event around cricket and mental health in partnership with 'Time to Change', the England and Wales Cricket Board and Berkshire Healthcare this October. It is a 'pilot' event and will hopefully lead to new projects in the area of mental health and cricket in the future. To find out more about our sports work, visit:http://www.shift.org.uk/work/sport
Find out more here: http://shift.org.uk/aboutus/podcast
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
To find out more, please visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/getinvolved
Media
Shift is commissioning a six-month research project into TV representations of mental illness. The findings will be used to engage TV producers and script-writers in a dialogue around how they represent mental illness. They will be presented at an event attended by leading TV figures next year, inspiring the industry to portray people with mental health problems in an innovative, fresh and creatively exciting new way, challenging tired, old stereotypes.Shift has provided media training to psychiatrists from the Royal College of Psychiatrists to help them set news stories about mental illness and violence in context. Spokespeople from the College are now commentating on homicide stories, including for instance the recent 'Peter Bryan' homicide inquiry, stressing that most people with mental health problems are not violent. This is part of wider efforts to get across the 'other side of the story', when the media reports on homicides perpetrated by mental health patients, by supporting NHS trusts involved in homicide cases. We are also lobbying the Press Complaints Commission to provide better guidance to newspaper editors on reporting these stories and representing mental illness.
We are again delivering our popular workshops on reporting mental illness and suicide to trainee journalists at more than a dozen postgraduate and vocational journalism colleges and universities from the new academic year.
The charity Ok2b has been commissioned to run a web-based 'Stigma Watch' system called Words Matter, enabling people to praise and complain about media coverage. It will be marketed to service users and relevant mental health related organisations later this year.
Shift will be publishing a package of research about the media this winter. It will include 'Mind over Matter III', our annual analysis of media coverage. This report analyses coverage from March and October 2008. It will be compared against reports from the previous three years to see if there have been any improvements. 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. It will also include the findings of research into how the mental health of Black and Minority Ethnic groups are reported in Black and Minority Ethnic and mainstream press.
To download a copy of the last Mind Over Matter report, visit:
http://snipurl.com/mindovermatter2
Shift is continuing to operate its Speakers Bureau, a bank of 50 people with mental health problems and carers who talk to the media. 10 more speakers from across England are being recruited to the bureau.
To find out more about the Shift Speakers' Bureau, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/speakersbureau
Shift is also promoting our 'What's the story?' guidance for journalists on reporting mental illness and suicide at the National Union of Journalists and the Society of Editors annual conferences. To find out more about What's the Story, visit:
http://www.shift.org.uk/mediahandbook
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.Four regional training days are being organised for Community Development Workers about using Open Secrets to raise awareness and reduce stigma and discrimination. These will be held between November and December 2009. Shift and the DRE programme are planning to provide CDWs with a stock of compilation DVDs of different films about mental health experiences and people from BME communities. These will be accompanied by pause & talk guides developed to assist CDWs in using video as a way of increasing awareness and challenging discrimination. The opportunity, once trained, will be for CDWs to lead regional and local stakeholder events between January and March 2010 using the compilation DVD supplied by Shift/DRE. Shift and DRE plan to have web- based library of films available for CDWs from March 2010.
The award winning film Open Secrets was publicly launched at the Fourth Annual Delivering Race Equality conference on 12 March 2009 and has received very positive feedback. The trailer for 'Open Secrets' is available on the Shift website and is being shown at Shift exhibition stands at numerous National conferences around England. Interested parties should contact their Community Development Worker to view the film.
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. The photos are available via the Shift website:
http://shift.org.uk/work/bme/blackwhite
The findings from the two media research projects undertaken last year are being incorporated into a comprehensive review of mental health and the media (see Media section above).
Employment
Over 40,000 copies of the Shift Line Manager's Resource have been distributed to employers across England, focussing on the public sector. The resource is a practical guide to managing and supporting people with mental health problems in the workplace. A new revised edition is currently being drafted and will be ready for World Mental Health Day. 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/employersAn independent expert panel, The Shift Review Panel, was set up last year to review guidance on mental health and employment to help employers access the most appropriate resources for their organisation. The panel, hosted by the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, includes experts from academia, business and the public sector. These 'quality checked' materials are now available via the Shift website:
http://shift.org.uk/reviewpanel
Three short films called 'Life in the Office' have been produced to raise awareness of mental health problems at work to help reach 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 Football Association (FA), Professional Footballers Association (PFA), Premier League, Football Foundation, Sporting Chance (SC), Time to Change, The League Managers Association and the Football League Trust to support this work. We plan to hold a second national conference and tournament event early next year before 31st March. Shift have met with the PFA and SC and the League Football Education (LFE) to consider producing a handbook for players about mental health. A draft document will hopefully be prepared this autumn.For more information about our work with football, including photos and video, visit:
http://shift.org.uk/madaboutfootball
Shift is also running a workshop and event around cricket and mental health in partnership with 'Time to Change', the England and Wales Cricket Board and Berkshire Healthcare this October. It is a 'pilot' event and will hopefully lead to new projects in the area of mental health and cricket in the future. To find out more about our sports work, visit:http://www.shift.org.uk/work/sport
Shift on the Web
Shift's videocasts are a series of short videos that feature people talking about their experience of stigma and discrimination.Find out more here: http://shift.org.uk/aboutus/podcast
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
