World Mental Health Day
The Mental Health Council of Australia is contracted by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing to undertake national coordination of World Health Day (WMHD) activities throughout Australia.
WMHD is an annual event auspiced by the World Health Organisation, and occurs on 10 October each year. WMHD falls within Mental Health Week but can be moved within the week to enhance exposure and ensure maximum participation.
The MHCA focused on these primary areas to promote WMHD:
• enhancing awareness of mental health in Australia;
• liaising with the mental health community, stakeholders and consumers and carers;
• distributing promotional materials;
• coordinating activities around Australia to celebrate WMHD and promote mental health;
• increasing national media coverage through a national launch;
• disseminating material and information through the MHCA website and by electronic and physical means;
• increasing exposure through sponsorship and philanthropic avenues.
As part of World Mental Health Week activities, the MHCA holds an official launch of World Mental Health Day (WMHD). The MHCA generally follows the theme established by The World Federation for Mental Health. This ensures a national and international consistency of message.
The theme for World Mental Health Day (WMHD) 2011 is The Great Push: Investing in Mental Health.
WMHD Forum – National Press Club, Canberra (7 October 2011)
Over the past two years, the MHCA has staged an open forum at the National Press Club in Canberra. Each year we invite mental health consumers and carers, stakeholders, members of parliament and interested people to attend.
The forum is designed to be an open discussion about mental health issues and an opportunity for the sector to discuss the theme for WMHD. The facilitator is the ABC’s chief medial reporter, Sophie Scott. She will lead the audience through a wide ranging discussion on service delivery and the policies covering mental health in Australia.
The international theme for World Mental Health Day 2011 is about investing in mental health. That is why this year’s WMHD will focus on funding mental health in Australia.
This theme will be used on WMHD to create a discussion on the big question: where should we invest in mental health?
Where should the dollars go? Prevention? Research? Young people, as the vast majority of mental health conditions affect people under 25 years of age, or across the whole of life? Acute care or community managed care? City or country? Or should we even be talking about either/or rather than looking at the ‘system’ as a whole and how to fund a mental health system that works?
Joining Sophie Scott in this discussion will be panel:
- Professor Helen Christensen, Director of the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University
- Keiran Booth, Carer Co-Chair of the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum.
- Professor Pat McGorry, Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health and former Australian of the Year
- Bronte O’Brien, Mental Health Ambassador
This event is now sold out.
WMHD Advertising
The MHCA in conjunction with an advertising agency (ArcMedia) have created public advertising for WMHD 2011. The television advertisements are in the form of Community Service Announcements (CSAs), billboards, posters, media kits social media sites and print advertisements. The billboards and posters depict the images of a range of people and promote World Mental Health Day, 10 October and the tagline Change Your Mind.
The billboards are eye-catching and extremely visual. They are designed to show a person through a range of emotions, from slightly forlorn to happy, and the message ‘change your mind’ can be interpreted as the hope and optimism of seeking help when needed.
The primary objective of this is to raise awareness of World Mental Health Day, with a related message about understanding mental health issues and the importance of seeking help and early intervention when needed. Unlike physical illness, most young people with mental health issues do not seek help. Recent figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that less than a quarter of young people with a mental illness use mental health services. In some cases, the rate is as low as 18 percent. Young people with substance use disorder are the least likely to use mental health services.
We have secured airtime on Channel 7 and Channel 9 and SBS television to broadcast promotional adverts.
Raising awareness and participation in World Mental Health Day remains the overarching goal of this campaign, it is however likely that increased visibility and awareness will lead to some behavior or attitude changes in the most at-risk group.
For posters and promotional material, please contact Director of Communications Simon Tatz.
