Reducing mental health stigma in primary care teams

Laia Gené

Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina, Spain

Primary care plays a key role in supporting people with mental health needs. Yet mental health stigma can influence communication, clinical decisions and the way patients engage with services, affecting the quality and equity of healthcare. This project aims to co-create and test an intervention that reduces mental health stigma among primary care professionals in Catalonia.

The programme involves physicians, nurses, administrative staff and other frontline professionals, and will combine brief first-person narratives, guided reflection and digital or audiovisual resources adapted to the daily routines of primary care teams. Interviews and group discussions with professionals and patients will help the team assess whether the intervention produces early changes in attitudes and knowledge, is feasible, acceptable and useful, and to identify barriers, facilitators and areas for improvement.

The programme could improve everyday healthcare by helping services communicate more effectively with patients and promoting person-centred primary care and fairer access to support. The project may also develop into a training package for the Catalan health system.

• Miquel Juncosa, Obertament – Associació Catalana per a la lluita contra l’estigma en salut mental, Spain

ODISSEA: Pilot study to co-create and implement a multicomponent intervention to reduce mental health stigma in primary care

€80.000,00