A co-produced community engagement workshop in South London to reduce psychosis related stigma

BackgroundEarly access to services is essential for those suffering a psychotic illness or at risk for the condition. Lack of knowledge of services and public stigma are major barriers to care and are associated with increased duration of untreated psychosis and delays in those at clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) from accessing support. Education and contact programmes have shown promise in reducing stigmatizing views, however, few have been co-produced and delivered by service users and clinical staff. A three-hour co-produced educational workshop was developed and delivered by service users and Outreach and Support in South London (OASIS) staff. The aim was to assess the feasibility of delivering a co-produced workshop to youth community workers, to see if it improved knowledge of psychosis, attitudes to mental health services and reduced stigma towards people with psychosis as well as seeing if the workshop increased community referrals to OASIS. MethodEducational workshops were developed by community stakeholders and service users. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires assessed knowledge of psychosis, attitudes towards mental health teams and stigma towards individuals with a psychotic disorder. Participants and service users views on the workshop were explored through two focus groups. Results9 workshops were delivered to 75 community participants. Following the workshop participants questionnaire scores showed improvements in knowledge of psychosis, improved attitudes towards mental health teams and a reduction in stigmatizing views towards people with psychosis. The workshop was overwhelmingly well received with 97% agreeing with the statement that they learnt something valuable from the workshop. Referrals to the OASIS service increased by 22% following the workshops. ConclusionThe co-produced educational workshop designed and delivered by service users and OASIS staff was successful in improving participants knowledge, attitudes and reducing stigma. We observed an increase in the rate of referrals to the OASIS service, although it is difficult to whether this was due to the workshops or to other outreach activities. Future research should examine whether these effects are long-lasting and explore online delivered workshops to reach more participants in the wider community.