“Stigma around mental health kept me from engaging with services for nearly 30 years.”
#HealthNow peer volunteer
Our research and lived experience tell us that people experiencing both homelessness and mental health issues are worried about being stigmatised in healthcare settings. Many people have told us they felt judged when they reached out for help and stigmatised about their mental health and that this caused feelings of shame and embarrassment.
Our campaign will help people working in healthcare and other support services to:
Recognise and understand this fear and how to recognise it.
Identify actions they can take to ensure their service is welcoming.
Help the people around them to recognise and avoid stigmatising behaviours.
If you want to know more about the evidence and insights we have gathered, you can find them at groundswell.org.uk/stigma along with short films and reports about mental health and homelessness.
There are 4 ways you can join our campaign:
- Share on social media:
- You can download an electronic PDF document which you can send to your local support service. This might be your local GP practice (find your local GP), your local mental health service (find local mental health support) or your local homelessness service (find your local homelessness service)
- Leave a message of support using the form below, that we can share with others, saying what you plan to do to tackle stigma.
- To stay in touch with our work, please sign up to our newsletter
