Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board has reportedly become the first health board in Wales to launch a project designed to reduce stigma around mental illness amongst staff.
In a partnership with the mental health charity Time to Change, a new training module – accompanied by a series of short videos – has been developed to help staff understand the types of stigma and prejudices that surround mental health in healthcare settings. It’s hoped that this will eventually be rolled out to other health boards in Wales.
“By opening up a discussion around stigma, we hope to engage healthcare professionals in self-reflection and support them to take action around tackling stigma. Through this training, we want to empower and equip our staff to reflect on current practice and identify ways of improving experiences of patients with mental health issues in a non-judgemental way.”
– Dr Andrea Davies, Project Lead
Last week was Mental Health Week. A recent survey by Time to Change found that fewer than 50% of people with mental health problems feel comfortable talking about it and up to 1-in-5 people with mental illnesses felt they have been unfairly treated by healthcare staff.
