Our impact

Time to Change started in October 2007. Since then, we have reached millions of people across England through our campaign. We have seen a reduction in the discrimination that people with mental health problems experience, and begun to improve public attitudes towards people with mental health problems.

Changing behaviour and reducing discrimination

We have seen a 4% reduction in the discrimination experienced by people with mental health problems.

We measure this by asking 1,000 people about the discrimination they face in their day to day lives, and compare this every year. These are people who are being treated for a defined mental illness and who are living in the community.

The 4% reduction in discrimination was evidenced in the survey that was carried out in 2010, and remained consistent in 2011.

Improving public attitudes

There has been a 0.8% improvement in public attitudes towards people with mental health problems since the launch of Time to Change.

This is according to the Department of Health's annual 'Attitudes to Mental Illness' survey which asks a representative sample of the general public questions about their attitudes.

Between 2008 and 2010 we saw a 2.2% improvement in public attitudes. However, in 2011 this dropped back to a 0.8% improvement overall since the launch of the campaign.

This dip reflects international research into public attitudes, which suggests that attitudes towards 'vulnerable groups', including people with mental health problems, can harden during periods of recession and higher unemployment. However, what the research doesn't tell us is how much bigger the drop may have been without the existence of the Time to Change campaign and other local anti-stigma activities. The crucial thing is that the reduction in actual experiences of discrimination has been sustained.

The link between our campaign and improved attitudes and behaviour

According to evaluation of Time to Change by the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, there is a clear and consistent link between awareness of the Time to Change campaign and improved knowledge, attitudes and behaviour around mental health. This link is growing over time, which suggests that awareness of the campaign is building.

Starting conversations about mental health

A key principle that Time to Change is built on is 'social contact'. This means knowing someone with a mental health problem, or having met someone who is open about it. Research shows that this is one of the most powerful indicators of improved attitudes and behaviours, so a lot of our work is about creating opportunities for more members of the public to come into contact with people who are open about their mental health problems.

Since Time to Change launched there has been a significant increase in the number of people who say they know someone with a mental health problem.

Evaluation of Time to Change's social contact events shows these to be an effective way of reducing stigma and discrimination. Over a third of people without a mental health problem who attended one of our 'Time to Get Moving' events left with a more positive impression of people with mental health problems, while around half did so after one of our roadshows.

Several papers about the evaluation of Time to Change have been published in peer reviewed journals.