Mental Health Ambassadors Initiative under the project “Look Deeper”
Country
LithuaniaType of structure
"Žvelk giliau" / “Look Deeper” is the project funded by the Ministry of Health Protection of the Republic of Lithuania and coordinated by the Mental Health Center of the Institute of Hygiene.Action scale
NationalDescription of the organisation
Mental Health Ambassador activity is coordinated by the representatives of non-governmental organisations that unite various groups of society, who want to contribute to reducing the stigma of mental health) after they complete state-funded training and manage a dedicated budget. Then, they are responsible for training Mental Health Ambassadors, to organise various events where ambassadors share their experiences with others, providing the necessary resources and support.
Good practice
“Look Deeper” is a project that aims to educate and develop a tolerant Lithuanian society that has sufficient knowledge about the importance and problems of mental health. One of the means to implement the project’s goals is the initiative of mental health ambassadors. It is implemented with the help of foreign partners, adopting their experience.
A mental health ambassador is a person who shares their experience of mental health difficulties in their own life or that of their loved ones during various activities and events and makes social contacts.
Social contact activities, where a person who has experienced mental health difficulties share this experience with another person who has not, is a proven way to reduce the stigma of mental health in all regions of the world.
Aim: to empower individuals who have experienced or are experiencing mental health difficulties of their own or their loved ones’, to become mental health ambassadors and share their experiences in their communities.
Results of 2023 (APR-DEC):
*2 ambassador trainings have been implemented
*A team of 6 ambassadors has been assembled
*Established 221 social contacts
*Implemented events with ambassadors’ announcements:
3 contact 8 hrs. training on mental health literacy and stigma reduction for personal health care professionals “Mental health, harmful use and stigma”, trained 60 specialists.
2 meetings with students of Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Philosophy;
Remote seminar-discussion for low-threshold cabinet specialists;
Contact event – discussion on the topic of reducing stigma “Balanced for teachers, but suitable for everyone: conversations about mental health” I choose to teach the community;
Meeting with the ambassador at the Open Center of the Center polyclinic “(Non)dependence: is it still embarrassing to talk?”