The HSE has developed a new advertising campaign to promote and encourage people aged over 18 to recognise common mental health difficulties and find information and supports on yourmentalhealth.ie.
The campaign is informed by quantitative and qualitative research on public attitudes, beliefs and people’s awareness and knowledge of mental health.
Key insights people we spoke to include:
- One in two had a personal experience of a mental health difficulty.
- One in three cared for someone with a mental health difficulty.
- One in three didn’t have experience with mental health.
- Mental health difficulties like ongoing, stress, low mood, anxiety and sleep problems are common. People tend
to accept them as normal and part of their daily lives. - When people did recognise that they needed support, they didn’t always know where or how to find it or the range of supports from face-to-face to online courses that are available.
- Sharing a mental health difficulty with someone or helping someone else with a difficulty was hard for many people. There was a fear of burdening others or a lack of knowledge on providing support.
Based on these insights the campaign will work to improve people’s mental health literacy skills by enabling people to:
- Recognise and manage their mental health.
- Support others when they need help.
- Identify and respond to difficulties at the earliest opportunity using self-help and social support.
- Be aware of when to refer themselves or someone else to a health professional to address more serious mental health difficulties.
Following extensive research and input from the Digital Team, the website content and user-journey were re-developed in response to people’s searching habits, information needs and available resources.
See www.yourmentalhealth.ie for the end result and follow the associated social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.
