Evaluating the Effectiveness of NAMI’s In Our Own Voice (IOOV)

Education Program

Amy L. Wood, Ph.D.George Mason University

NAMI Convention PresentationSan Diego, CA

June 2007

Since calling the nation’s attention to the many problems associated with stigma and recovery from mental illness, the Surgeon General has recommended that effective anti-stigma campaigns be identified.

Evaluating NAMI’s In Our Own Voice Education Program

• The stated purpose of IOOV is to open minds, change attitudes, and educate the public

• Like many anti-stigma programs, IOOV seems promising, but is it effective?

• In order to evaluate the effectiveness of IOOV in achieving these goals, the following question was posed

Will exposure to people recovering from mental illnesses through the IOOV program significantly improve public knowledge and attitudes about mental illness?

Research DesignMeasuring change across time using a Pre test/Post test design

– Baseline data was collected and compared to the data collected after people attend IOOV

– In this case, baseline data was drawn from a test measuring what people knew about mental illness and how they felt about people with mental illness prior to seeing IOOV

Research Design Continued

Control Group

– This group completed the same pre test and post test measures without attending IOOV. Instead of attending IOOV they were audience members for a presentation about careers in psychology

Research Design ContinuedDevelopment of measures- What ideas in particular does IOOV strive

to convey to its audience?

1. Knowledge measure– “Mental illness strikes people from all walks of life”– “A mental illness is a disease of the brain like diabetes is a

disease of the body2. Attitude measure

– “The media does a poor job of realistically depicting people with mental illness”

– “Hope exists for people with mental illness3. Social Distance

– “I would feel secure renting a room in my house to someone with a mental illness”

– “I would feel fine about working with someone with a mental illness”

Participants

114 undergraduate students from George Mason University

– 57 students randomly assigned to the experimental group

– 57 students randomly assigned to the control group

Participants Continued

Demographics• 76% female• 22% male

*2 participants did not respond to gender item Mean Age

• 21.4

*Age ranged from 16-46

Participants Continued

51% Caucasian

15% African American

21% Asian

4% Hispanic

9% Other*One participant did not respond

Results

The experimental group showed significant improvement in their knowledge and attitude scores on the IOOV Knowledge measure and the IOOV Attitude measure across time (pretest to post test)

Furthermore, the improvement noted on these measures significantly exceeded the change across time seen in the control group, which was little to none.

IOOV Knowledge Scores Pre Test Post Test

Experimental Group M=64.30 M=70.60* SD=5.66 SD=5.66

Control Group M=64.35 SD=64.93 SD=5.29 SD=5.66

*P<.01

Attitude Scores

Pre Test Post Test

Experimental Group M=65.96 M=70.07*

SD=7.30 SD=6.80

Control Group M=64.37 SD=65.33

SD=7.55 SD=8.05

*P<.01

Results continued

The experimental group ALSO showed significant improvement in their general attitude scores on Measure 3 across time (pre test to post test) As you will recall, this measure did not consist of specific items directly reflecting the content of IOOV, but instead of broader attitudes about people with mental illness.

This improvement significantly exceeded the change across time seen in the control group, which was little to none

Social Distance Scores

Pre Test Post Test

Experimental Group M=12.88 M=15.05*

Control Group M=12.56 M=12.68

SD=3.85 SD=3.91

*P<.01

Summary

Overall, the findings indicate that attending IOOV did result in significantly greater gain in knowledge about mental illness and significantly greater improvement in attitudes towards mental illness in this college student sample, as compared to the control participants who attended a presentation about careers in psychology.

Summary continued

The results empirically support IOOV as an effective mental health education program for this undergraduate population.

Conclusion

This present study fills a recognized gap in the research by identifying a successful anti-stigma intervention.

Hopefully this study can serve as a model for other program evaluations, as the pre/post test design and the inclusion of a control group used here resulted in findings that provide a strong and empirically-supported argument for the value and usefulness of IOOV

Conclusion continued

Using IOOV to educate the public about mental health issues will serve to decrease the societal stigma that acts as an unnecessary barrier for individuals living with mental illness