Podcasts, Mental Health, and Stigma: Exploring Motivations, Behaviors, and Attitudes Among Listeners

Carrotte, Elise Rose; Blanchard, Michelle; Groot, Christopher; Hopgood, Fincina; Phillips, Lisa

doi:10.1080/10510974.2023.2196433

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Over one-third (250/629, 39.7%) of the participants were first-year psychology students, with the remainder from the general community. Refer to the previous publication for detailed demographic data [ 12 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This cross-sectional web-based survey aimed to identify podcast listeners’ preferences for and attitudes toward a new podcast on the topic of stigma experienced by people living with complex mental health issues. Questions on these areas were incorporated into a larger survey about podcast listening and mental health; a detailed methodology is presented in a separate publication [ 12 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The participants provided demographic details, including year of birth, gender, postcode, ancestry, areas of employment or study, and experience of mental health issues. Questions addressed existing podcast listening behaviors and attitudes, and questionnaires on stigma, knowledge, and socially desirable responding style were incorporated; refer to the previous publication for these data [ 12 ]. The following questions are the focus of this publication.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Podcasts are internet-based audio files typically available as a series of episodes streaming on the web. Approximately 1 in 3 Australian adult podcast listeners have tuned into a mental health–themed podcast in the last year [ 12 ]. Podcasts are increasingly being used as an adjunct to counseling and psychological therapies and in psychological research [ 13 ] and are being frequently used to share narratives (cohesive personal stories, testimonials, etc) from people with lived experience of mental health issues [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sharing personal experiences around social issues in this format may increase listeners’ understanding and empathy [ 7 , 16 , 17 ], humanizing storytellers and potentially reaching a wide audience [ 18 ] . Cross-sectional studies have identified associations between listening to mental health–themed podcasts and lower levels of stigmatizing attitudes [ 12 , 19 ], and an experimental study found that listening to a podcast interview with a clinician about psychosis reduced listeners’ endorsement of myths and stereotypes about this diagnosis [ 20 ]. Outside the mental health field, research has explored how listening to podcasts can reduce stigma and promote understanding around the themes, such as trauma [ 21 ], menopause [ 22 ], sexuality and race [ 23 ], and domestic violence [ 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A New Podcast for Reducing Stigma Against People Living With Complex Mental Health Issues: Co-design Study

Carrotte¹,

Hopgood²,

Blanchard³

et al. 2023

JMIR Form Res

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Background Mental illness stigma refers to damaging stereotypes and emotional responses around the experience of mental health issues. Media-based interventions have the potential to reduce the public’s stigmatizing attitudes by improving mental health literacy, emotional appeal, and the intimacy of address. As audio-based media facilitating storytelling, podcasts show potential for reducing stigma; however, it is unclear what features could make a podcast effective or engaging. Objective The Co-Design and Anti-Stigma Podcast Research (CASPR) study aimed to collaborate with key target audience members to inform the development of a new podcast. This podcast primarily aims to reduce listeners’ stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with complex mental health issues. Methods This study was adapted from Experience-Based Co-Design methodology. The first part, information gathering, involved a web-based mixed methods survey with 629 Australian podcast listeners to explore their interest and concerns around podcasts. Then, a series of focus groups were held with a purposive sample of 25 participants to explore the potential benefits and challenges of the podcast format. Focus group participants included people with lived experience of complex mental health issues, media and communications professionals, health care professionals, and people interested in workplace mental health. The second part, co-design, constituted 3 meetings of a co-design committee with 10 participants drawn from the focus groups to design the podcast using brainstorming and decision-making activities. Results Most survey respondents (537/629, 85.3%) indicated a willingness to listen to a podcast about experiences of mental illness stigma; participants indicated preference for semistructured episodes and a mixture of light and serious content. Focus group participants identified potential challenges with appealing to listeners, making the content emotionally resonant and engaging, and translation to listeners’ attitude change. The co-design committee collaborated to achieve consensus on the focus of individual episodes: domains where stigma and discrimination are common, such as workplaces and health care settings; the structure of individual episodes: storyboards that centralize guests with lived experience, featuring explicit discussions around stigma and discrimination; and overarching content principles, including a sincere, empathetic, and hopeful tone; using plain language; having clear calls to action; and providing listener resources. Conclusions The co-design process informed a podcast design that features lived experience narratives with an explicit focus on stigma and discrimination, highlighting the realities of stigma while acknowledging progress in the space and how listeners can contribute toward social change. This study allowed for an in-depth discussion around the strengths and limitations of such a podcast according to different target audience members. The co-design committee designed key elements of a podcast that has the potential to minimize the limitations of the format while embracing the benefits of podcast-based storytelling. Once produced, the podcast will be evaluated for its impact on attitude change.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%