Our Mission is to fight for mental health and well-being for all with equality of treatment and dignity in patient experience as a basic human right.
We are a global organisation, founded in 2015, and our volunteers include individuals with lived experience and healthcare professionals. We aim to create dialogue and build consensus to drive change in attitudes and practices.
The organization has three broad goals:
1. Mobilising the public to make dignity in mental health a reality.
2. Helping mental health professionals to tackle self-stigma and promote a dignity experience for their patients, carers and families.
3. Engaging and influencing policy makers to ensure policies protect and promote dignity and equality of treatment for those with mental health issues.
Our work has focused on three main strategies relative to our goals:
1. Increasing public understanding of mental health dignity and the need to end stigma.
a. In 2015 we developed a Taxonomy of Mental Health Dignity and launched the world’s first Dignity symbol (see resources) to highlight the need to end stigma and promote dignity. This is published on our website.
b.In 2015, World Mental Health Day adopted ‘Dignity’ as its theme.
c. We run a public campaign to nominate and award ‘Mental Health Champions’, individuals and organisations fighting for dignity in mental health.
2. Connecting healthcare professionals, policy makers and those with lived experience to increase understanding of the service user experience.
a. We have run several conferences (Lille 2015, Malta 2018, San Diego 2020, postponed by COVID) at which professionals, policy makers and those with lived experience have come together to share experiences and learn from each other’s perspectives.
b. In 2022 we hosted the WFMH World Congress in London and launched phase three of a comprehensive study which aims to build consensus between mental healthcare professionals and service users on a scale for measuring dignity in patient experience.
c. We present our research at leading conferences such as the World Psychiatrists Conference and American Psychiatrists Conference and the World Association of Social Psychiatry.
3. Supporting those with lived experience to make their voices heard for dignity experiences in mental healthcare.
a. We have run several phases of qualitative and quantitative research with service users and others with lived experience to define mental health dignity in patient experience and its operational measures. This will be used to increase understanding among HCPs and advocate for improvements to service delivery.
b. We published research to understand the dignity impacts of COVID. https://theworlddignityproject.org/psychological-impact-psychosocial-consequences-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/
c. We feature and promote the work of peer support and other lived experience organisations and individuals in our communications (social media, newsletters) and events. For example
- We sponsored a symposium at the WFMH World Congress in 2022 which featured the work of six such organisations and individuals.
- We featured five such organisations in an article edited by Claire Brooks in educational material for World Mental Health Day, 2021.
d. We have a partnership with the University of Bradford delivered as part of the Career Booster and Business / Community Engagement program, which provides skills to prevent burnout and enable individuals to improve education and employment opportunities.
Unit 411
Lock Studios
7 Corsican Square
London
E3 3YD
1. The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is an international membership organization founded in 1948 to advance, among all peoples and nations, the prevention of mental and emotional disorders, the proper treatment and care of those with such disorders, and the promotion of mental health.
2. The Global Mental Health Peer Network (GMHPN) founded by Charlene Sunkel have graciously partnered with us to conduct our research.
Funding is privately donated (and declared to the Charities Commission on our annual return) by Founder and President, Prof Gabriel Ivbijaro, Trustee Prof. Lucja Kolkiewicz and Co-Founder and Research Director, Ms. Claire Brooks. Volunteers donate their time and expertise in support of specific initiatives.
