Views and experiences of Every Mind Matters, Public Health England’s adult mental health literacy campaign: a qualitative interview study

Abstract

Background Every Mind Matters is a publicly funded health campaign, launched in England in 2019, to equip adults to look after their mental health, and that of others, by offering online information about common problems: anxiety, low mood, sleep, stress. This study is one component of an independent evaluation of Every Mind Matters conducted by the NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit. Its aim is to explore individuals' experiences and views of the Every Mind Matters campaign and website. Methods Four researchers, including three with lived experience of using mental health services, conducted 20, one-off, semi-structured, online interviews with a range of adult participants, including a sample of EMM users and a purposively recruited sub-sample known to have severe or long-term mental health conditions. The team took a codebook approach to the analysis of the transcripts and identified four main themes. Findings There was an expectation from the name Every Mind Matters that its advice would address everyone. Almost all participants had experience of mental distress and looked to Every Mind Matters for help with a current problem for themselves. All participants were complimentary about the Every Mind Matters website and found it to be user-friendly (theme 1) and personalised (theme 2) especially the interactive feature 'Your Mind Plan quiz' which responds with suggested actions to improve wellbeing and follows up with reminder emails. A few participants found this life changing. Some participants wanted Every Mind Matters to better acknowledge the contexts in which they live (theme 3) such as the limitations of health conditions and health services, and difficulties of crowded housing, social policy, and climate change. Many participants would like Every Mind Matters to do more (theme 4), offer more interactivity, more choice, more information about available treatments, and more stratified advice to cover more severe mental health conditions so that everyone is included. Conclusion The population that experiences common mental health difficulties is not separate from the population that has severe mental health problems. Every Mind Matters could continue and build on its success by addressing a wider range of needs.