“Have you heard the one about…” using comedy to tackle mental health-related stigma with UK military personnel?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-03-2016-0017 |
| Date | 20 March 2017 |
| Pages | 9-11 |
| Published date | 20 March 2017 |
| Author | Maya Twardzicki,Norman Jones |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
“Have you heard the one abouty”using
comedy to tackle mental health-related
stigma with UK military personnel?
Maya Twardzicki and Norman Jones
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to provide first-hand reflections from a public mental health specialist,
on developing an innovative comedy-based arts and health project that engaged with UK military personnel.
Design/methodology/approach –Project partners included the Academic Department of Military Mental
Health at King’s College London and Army Headquarters. The project used a repeat measures design.
The intervention group (IG) received a mental health-focussed comedy show and the control group received
a standard comedy show. Serving Armed Forces personnel participated in focus groups to inform show
scripts, which also contained key mental health messages agreed by the project team. Evaluation
questionnaires were given out before and after the show and three months later.
Findings –The comedy show format proved to be an acceptable/popular way to present mental
health-related messages. Post-show there was a statistically significant reduction in mental health
stigmatisation and significantly better mental health and stigma-related knowledge in the IG.
Research limitations/implications –Due to deployment, follow-up participation was limited, reducing the
ability to assess whether the effects were durable.
Practical implications –The challenges of working with serving personnel are outlined and some
recommendations made to improve future comedy interventions/research with this group.
Originality/value –This study provides a thorough evaluation of an arts and health intervention using a
comprehensive survey methodology.
Keywords Mental health, Comedy, Stigma
Paper type Case study
Introduction
There is “growing international acceptance that participation in the creative arts can be beneficial
for wellbeing and health”(Clift, 2012; Lloyd, 2002). Although little of this research has focussed
on comedy as a creative art form, a review of effective health education approaches with young
men showed humour is effective when communicating about sensitive topics such as mental
health (Jackson, 2003). Evaluations of our comedy interventions in community and prison
settings have shown it to be effective in increasing awareness and positive attitudes around
mental health (Wright et al., 2014).
All methods
Process
The authors presented the proposal to the Academic Department of Military Mental Health and
evaluation data from previous comedy mental health projects in other settings was reviewed.
This data demonstrated the effectiveness of comedy in raising mental health awareness and
reducing stigma. The study was approved by the Ministry of Defence Research Ethics
Committee and Army Headquarters generated the study sample.
Received 31 March 2016
Revised 31 March 2016
Accepted 31 August 2016
Maya Twardzicki is a Public
Health Lead at the Public
Health and Adult Social Care,
Surrey County Council,
Kingston upon Thames,
London, UK.
Norman Jones is based at the
Academic Department of
Military Mental Health, Kings
College, London, UK.
DOI 10.1108/JPMH-03-2016-0017 VOL. 16 NO. 1 2017, pp. 9-11, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTALHEALTH
j
PAG E 9
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