What? The scope of the project is to empower individuals with mental illness so that they are more willing and more able to fight stigma. How? To meet this aim, we propose to build an online platform and to train individuals with mental illness and their caregivers to generate content for the platform by: (1) showcasing the stigma trap; (2) telling their own story in words; (3) telling their own story in pictures.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Cluj-Napoca
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
Who? We will be working with consumers and caregivers, as they are exposed to high levels of stigma but play a marginal role in counteracting it. Why? Tremendous efforts have been made to eradicate mental illness stigma. Unfortunately, given that most individuals are reluctant to disclose their condition, their voices often remain unheard. The online space is safe, allowing individuals to speak out while ensuring anonymity.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Participants will be trained to advocate by presenting the individuals behind the derogatory labels. Their input will be used to build an app consisting of dynamic story plots that will unfold depending on how users respond to questions assessing their mental illness beliefs. The story plots will encompass the stigma trap. Also, participants will be trained to convey their message and to document their experiences using blogging and photography.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Other tools
A shockwave flash app describing the intricate pathways of stigma (stigma trap) will be developed
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
Existing partnerships: We will collaborate with other nonprofits (e.g., Estuar, MinteForte) which will help with recruitment of consumers and caregivers and with the Journalism Department from Babes-Bolyai University which will help with training. We will also build upon the experience of Orizonturi (nonprofit with previous funding from Rising Voices). Future partnerships: Bloggers and photographers covering social and health related topics.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
The nonprofit partners will ensure participant recruitment. Assistance will be provided throughout, to increase participant retention. In the 1st phase, we plan to organize two workshops and in the 2nd phase,six workshops-all having 10 participants each. Copies of the training materials will enable the graduates to further recruit and teach others. Six participants from the 1st phase will be involved as recruiters and trainers in the 2nd phase.
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
Given that our organization has extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to mental health and mental illness stigma, but close to no experience with participatory citizen media, we would greatly benefit from mentoring on how to produce and disseminate impactful outputs.
Contact name
Alina Zlati
Organization
Open Minds: Center for Mental Health Research