Reducing mental health stigma and discrimination: Educational interventions in basic schools

• Autor(a) principal: Monteiro, Ana Paula Teixeira de Almeida Vieira
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.esenfc.pt/?url=DkIekE
• topic: Reducing mental illness stigma; School children

Despite an increase in knowledge and effective treatments for mental illnesses, these health problems remain under-reported and unrecognized. Negative attitudes to people with mental illness start at playschool and endure into early adulthood. While many schools are already tuned in to the problems of stigma and discrimination as they relate to race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, mental health and illness remain relatively invisible.Materials and methods A pilot project was developed aimed at 29 children of Primary School in the outskirts of Coimbra , Portugal.In ten weeks (2011), several interventions were conducted - psycho-educational activities using interactive teaching methods, educational games, movies, children's stories, study visits and face to face contact with people with mental health problems. After the interventions, children understood the concepts of difference, respect and cooperation with people with mental illness.