V. Fonnebo et Aj. Sogaard, THE NORWEGIAN MENTAL-HEALTH CAMPAIGN IN 1992 .1. POPULATION PENETRATION, Health education research, 10(3), 1995, pp. 257-266
Citations number
25
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Education & Educational Research
A fund-raising TV show was broadcast on one Sunday in Autumn 1992 by t
he Norwegian Broadcasting Cooperation, one of two TV channels covering
the whole country. The 6 h show consisted of information on mental he
alth problems and prevention intermingled with entertainment and repor
ts of fund-raising activities. Newspapers, radio and TV had covered th
e forthcoming TV show extensively. The campaign is evaluated as a nati
onwide mass-media-based mental health campaign using a stratified rand
om sample of 613 persons. Almost 94% were aware of the campaign, two-t
hirds had watched the pre-campaign TV programs and 62% followed the ca
mpaign day TV show. Nearly 70% had read about psychiatric disorders in
connection with the campaign and 45% had discussed the campaign topic
with others. Two-thirds made a financial contribution to the campaign
, while 10% expressed some concern. The wide penetration of this campa
ign conveying that psychological problems are a normal part of living
and that solutions can be found has put mental health issues on the cu
ltural agenda, and perhaps contributed to a breakdown of taboos and st
igma associated with mental health problems.