WHO/Europe is launching a new toolkit to support evidence-based activities aimed at reducing stigma and discrimination in mental health.
Mental health related stigma and discrimination exist in every country and can be incredibly harmful to people’s lives. In part because of stigma and discrimination, people living with mental health conditions are less likely to seek treatment for their condition, less likely to continue with treatment, and find it harder to hold down employment and form relationships. They also have a markedly shorter life expectancy. The stigmatization and discrimination of people with mental health conditions must end.
The “Mosaic toolkit to end stigma and discrimination in mental health” was developed by WHO/Europe, experts by profession from King’s College London and experts by experience from the Global Mental Health Peer Network, with inputs from the Pan-European Mental Health Coalition and anti-stigma experts worldwide. It draws on the best-available evidence on how to reduce stigma and discrimination in mental health.
The toolkit answers one of the recommendations of the Lancet Commission on ending stigma and discrimination and addresses needs that members of WHO/Europe’s Pan-European Mental Coalition identified within its first working package on mental health leadership.
The Mosaic toolkit is designed for anyone who wants to be involved in anti-stigma work, aiming to demystify the process of reducing stigma and discrimination. It aims to make it easier for individuals and organizations who have not yet undertaken evidence-based anti-stigma activities to begin that process in their context. Those who have engaged in anti-stigma work in the past may also find it useful as a reference when advocating buy-in from stakeholders, and to promote adoption of evidence-based stigma-reduction principles in sectors where such work might not have been conducted before.
The launch event will be opened by Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and will feature a panel of experts by experience and anti-stigma experts from across the world, including members of the pan-European Mental Health Coalition.
The toolkit will be available on the WHO/Europe website on 10 October 2024 at 9:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST).
Watch the launch here from 10:00–11:30 CEST.
Spread the word – it’s time to #EndStigma in mental health.
10 October is World Mental Health Day. The theme for this year is “Mental health at work”.
This page was amended on 30 September 2024 to correct errors introduced in the editing process.