Saffron Interactive and Amnesty International Ireland team up to challenge attitudes towards mental health
Prejudice against those experiencing mental health problems is rife. In one study, 58 per cent of people felt unfairly treated by mental health staff. Yet one in four people will experience significant mental distress at some point in their lives. Now Saffron Interactive is helping Amnesty International Ireland produce a remarkable e-learning course to change things for the better.
In order to drive new ways of thinking, the course will be made available for free to mental health professionals across the Republic of Ireland. Amnesty International Ireland has been campaigning for some years for those experiencing mental health problems to enjoy the same human rights as others, and this project is a key part of the programme of work.
The Irish Government committed in 2011 to bring legislation into line with the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
‘We received several excellent bids for this project but Saffron’s energy, creativity and passion shone through’ says Pippa Woolnough, who is leading the project for Amnesty International.
‘We knew that any course that felt like “just another piece of e-learning” would fail to achieve our objectives. Saffron responded to that challenge with a fresh, exciting design and a thoughtful approach which demonstrated understanding of this difficult area.’
‘This kind of project is why I get up on these unseasonably cold mornings,’ says Toby Harris, creative lead at Saffron, ‘Saffron has an opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives – just as we did in our course on mental resilience for Transport for London.’
Information about Amnesty International’s campaign, is available from www.amnesty.ie/mental-health.
Information about e-learning around mental health and case studies are available from Saffron Interactive.
About Amnesty International Ireland
The human rights organisation Amnesty International Ireland has more than 15,000 members and supporters. It is part of a global movement of more than 3.2 million people working in more than 150 countries around the world.
We campaign for the right to mental health in Ireland, where we focus on using the human rights framework to demand action from the Government. We campaign for a social approach in response to mental health that is focused on people’s rights, and are demanding action from the government to achieve real improvement in the lives of people who experience mental health difficulties.