Funding to Reduce Mental Illness Stigma, Discrimination

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is offering Research Project Grants (R01) to support efforts to reduce stigma and fight discrimination against individuals with mental illnesses.

NIMH “will provide funding for partnerships to assess the effectiveness of existing stigma and discrimination reduction programs and approaches, including media-oriented approaches such as public service announcements; develop innovative new programs and approaches; and examine the role of media in perpetuating and changing mental illness stigma and discrimination.”

“Partnerships to further information exchange with public stakeholders and organizations to improve the accuracy of public awareness about effective treatments for mental disorders; and to examine how service delivery organization and mental illness treatment financing (e.g., non-mental health parity, separate behavioral health insurers) impact mental illness stigma and discrimination are also appropriate,” the grant announcement noted.

Partnerships must include consumer and/or advocate organizations, communities, or state and local agencies with hands-on expertise in developing and implementing stigma reduction programs and strategies; and social, behavioral, and/or communication scientists with expertise in stigma research design and methodology, according to NIMH.

Nonprofits, governments, schools, for-profit firms and others may apply. Application deadline is Jan. 7, 2010.

For more information, see the full announcement online.