smoking1 and the promotion of sun protection.2 One survey ... Facebook page and 2 per cent used Twitter. ... Barnett was Business Development. Officer at ...
Radiophonein_Layout 1 26/09/2013 11:40 Page 1
Radio phone-in for mental health
z Original research
A radio phone-in programme for mental health education and promotion Richard Laugharne FRCPsych, Rohit Shankar MRCPsych, Rosie Dunkley, Laurence Reed, Sarah Fisher BA, Jonathan Barnett, Philip Brigham PhD
There is evidence that mass-media campaigns can educate the public, influence health behaviour and may reduce stigma. In this article, the authors describe how they initiated a new local radio phone-in programme covering different mental health problems and evaluated the benefits to members of the public who called the programme.
M
ass media campaigns have been utilised to educate the public about health messages, such as encouraging young people to stop smoking1 and the promotion of sun protection.2 One survey found that 75 per cent of respondents rely on media coverage when making healthcare decisions.3 A systematic review concluded that mass media interventions have an important role in influencing the use of healthcare services and in providing healthcare information to the public.4 Psychiatrists have been encouraged to get involved in public health.5 The public tends to trust doctors and health professionals for advice on health education, promotion and prevention. A significant proportion of the public listens to local radio. In a population of 530 000, our local BBC radio station, Radio Cornwall, has 180 000 people who tune in at least weekly, representing 34 per cent of the population. Two authors (RS and RL) received a Beddoes Fellowship from the South West Strategic Health Authority to facilitate 12 radio phone-in programmes over one year.6 The 35 consultants in the local mental health trust agreed to participate in these programmes so that a range of consultants could give their expertise. We planned to combine a consultant psychiatrist with an experiwww.progressnp.com
enced non-medical clinician who was an expert in mental health. The aim of this project was to educate the public about mental health conditions, the help that is available and local services. We also aimed to evaluate the programmes through feedback from the members of the public who called in. Programmes The programmes were part of the Laurence Reed programme on BBC Radio Cornwall, which broadcasts between 12-3pm on weekdays. The mental health phone-in was planned between 1-2pm on the first Wednesday of the month. A five-minute pre-recorded patient experience started the programme, following which the two professionals were asked questions by Laurence Reed and then responded to callers. The two professionals were a consultant psychiatrist and a nonmedical clinician with experience in mental health. The programmes focused on the following areas: • dementia • depression • alcohol problems • eating disorders • perinatal psychiatry • learning disabilities • psychosis • deliberate self-harm • post-traumatic stress disorder • childhood ADHD
• bipolar disorder • obsessive-compulsive disorder The programmes were successful in engaging the attention of listeners. Even though they were planned for 60 minutes, they almost invariably overran to at least 90 minutes. Callers were mostly people who had experienced the health problem or carers, and lively discussions ensued. Approximately six callers were accommodated in each programme. Members of the public also sent in emails. Ten consultant psychiatrists and 12 other clinicians participated in the first 12 programmes. To complement the phone-in programmes, a trainee psychiatrist wrote an information sheet, which was posted on the BBC Radio Cornwall website. This gave information about each condition, details of self-help organisations as well as contact numbers for local services. Evaluation A member of the Public Health team at the Primary Care Trust phoned callers after the programmes. A total of 59 callers agreed to participate in a telephone questionnaire. They were asked questions as to the value of the programme. In response to the question, ‘Did the programme achieve its aim?’ 57 out of 59 (97 per cent) callers replied yes with two saying no. Further questions and responses are shown in Table 1.
Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry September/October 2013
37
Radiophonein_Layout 1 26/09/2013 11:40 Page 2
Original research z
Radio phone-in for mental health
Question Mean score Was the programme interesting? 4.66 Were the presenters informative? 4.46 Have you learned more about the subject under discussion? 4.31 Were the case studies useful? 4.53 Table 1. Participant responses (n=59) to the telephone questionnaire (out of a maximum score of 5; 1=low, 5=high) Positive ‘Great presenters, very useful programme’ ‘Excellent programme - need more of same kind’ ‘Knowing there is help out there [is helpful]’ ‘Very professional’ ‘Extremely helpful and interesting’ Negative ‘Felt the presenters were too medical, needed someone else to talk about the underlying problems other than tablets that can help’ ‘Felt as though advice was rehearsed; read off a leaflet’ ‘Three sons alcoholic - unable to learn more’ ‘Adult help group, not just child, needed [for ADHD]’ Table 2. Specific comments made by participants during the telephone interview
Of the 59 people interviewed on the telephone, 61 per cent had access to the Internet (which is lower than most population surveys), 29 per cent accessed the Radio Cornwall website, 17 per cent accessed the Radio Cornwall Facebook page and 2 per cent used Twitter. This suggests that fewer of those listening to Radio Cornwall have access to the more recent media innovations than the general population, and hence radio programmes are needed to reach them. Those without access are likely to be a more deprived and older demographic group. Some of the qualitative comments received during the telephone interview are shown in Table 2. It was emphasised that individual care could not be commented upon, although this had to be stated when callers presented their own clinical stories. This avoided the risk of the clinician criticising colleagues when callers were not happy with 38
their care. When the 12 initial programmes ended, BBC Cornwall decided to keep these monthly programmes; they are now well into their third year and ongoing. Discussion This radio phone-in programme on mental health issues was of benefit to callers, which hopefully reflects benefit for listeners as well. The callers to this programme in Cornwall often had no access to the Internet and did not use the latest communications technologies, and therefore local radio is a vital source of information. As local radio can inform the public about local services, this can be an effective health promotion vehicle and can educate the public and reduce stigma. Recent evidence shows that the audience for local radio is large and growing. Details of local services can easily be publicised. A further indication of the success of these programmes is the request from BBC Radio Cornwall that they continue. Since the end of the initial 12-month period, a further 17 programmes have been delivered monthly and they are continuing. In addition, the local acute hospital trust has been asked to participate in similar programmes on physical health conditions. A recent study has found that in countries with less stigmatising attitudes to mental illness, people with mental illness were less selfstigmatising and perceived less discrimination.7 The authors of this study encourage the targeting of the general public through mass anti-stigma campaigns. Mass-media campaigns have been shown to produce positive health behaviours across large populations.8 We feel that this radio phonein programme has contributed to public education and mental health promotion in Cornwall. It is a productive way of improving
Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry September/October 2013
public mental health and destigmatising mental illness. The clinicians who have participated have enjoyed the experience and felt they have developed a new confidence in communicating through the media. The project was a finalist in the BMJ Group Awards 2012 in Healthcare Communications. Declaration of interests Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust received funding for this project through a Beddoes Fellowship from the South West Strategic Health Authority. Dr Laugharne and Dr Shankar are Consultant Psychiatrists, Sarah Fisher is Communications Officer and Jonathan Barnett was Business Development Officer at Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Philip Brigham is Public Health Lead for Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, Public Health England (Cornwall); and Rosie Dunkley and Laurence Reed work for BBC Radio Cornwall References 1. Sowden AJ, Arblaster L. Mass media interventions for preventing smoking in young people. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 1998;Issue 4. Art. No.: CD001006. 2. Smith BJ, Ferguson C, McKenzie J, et al . Impacts from repeated mass media campaigns to promote sun protection in Australia. Health Promotion International 2002;17:51-60. 3. Cavill N, Bauman A. Changing the way people think about health-enhancing physical activity: do mass media campaigns have a role? J Sports Sciences 2004;22:771-90. 4. Grilli R, Ramsay C, Minozzi S. Mass media interventions: effects on health services utilisation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2001;Issue 1. Art. No.: CD000389. 5. Royal College of Psychiatrists. No Health without Public Mental Health: the case for action (parliamentary briefing). London: RCPsych, 2010. 6. Scally GJ, Imtiaz JA, Bethune RM, et al . Helping clinicians improve the health of their communities: The Beddoes Fellows Programme. J Behavioural Health 2012;1:167-71. 7. Evans-Lacko S, Brohan E, Mojtabai R, et al. Association between public views of mental illness and self-stigma among individuals with mental illness in 14 European countries. Psychol Med 2012;42(8):1741-52. 8. Wakefield MA, Loken B, Hornik RC. Use of mass media campaigns to change health behaviour. Lancet 2010;376:1261-71.
www.progressnp.com
