Thank you.
It's very interesting, because initially we were hoping just to reach journalism students. The media play such an important role in shaping people's public opinion and views about mental illness, in the language they use, for example. It's the language that becomes so hurtful to people when they're dealing with stigma.
We know from work that has been done in Australia, for example, that you begin right at the source where you can have the most impact in influencing young journalism students. So we approached Mount Royal College as a pilot test site, and lo and behold, we were very, very pleased to find out that in fact a number of other faculties—for instance, the faculty of health and community studies, which includes nursing, social work, and the justice program—were also very interested and asked if we could put on a second session for their students as well.
We brought in four experts to talk about it from different perspectives. We also invited two consumers, people who had personal experiences, who could tell their stories. Again it's that direct contact with people who have experience with a mental illness that is so successful at breaking down those stereotypes and many of the myths surrounding mental illness.
I'm pleased to say that it was very successful. It's one of the initiatives we're looking at moving forward, trying to do this in other universities across the country, and perhaps even taking it down to the high school level where we're introducing it at an even earlier age.
Our senior consultant, Dr. Heather Stuart, at Queen's University, prepared a pre- and post-survey so we could begin to see what people's opinions were going into the conference or symposium, and how they may have been affected coming out.
Just to give you an idea of how successful the program was, Mount Royal College then came back to us and asked if we would do this on an ongoing basis and use its students, to a degree, as test subjects to see how in the course of the three-year journalism program, for example, and the three-year community services program they would change their opinions and how their views might change over the course of being introduced to stigma-reducing education programs in the curriculum and things of that nature. By getting in early, they're hoping many of their teachers and professors will be able to actually introduce that into the curriculum.
We think it's a great area to intervene.