OCD Action

Joel
Key Master

As part of OCD Action's Stakeholder Event and AGM on Tuesday 3rd May we will be running discussion groups on a number of topics. We have opened up four threads on this forum to get the ball rolling. On this thread, we would like to hear your ideas and views on how OCD Action should raise awareness of OCD over the coming 3 years. Who should we target? What should we tell them? How do we get attention? Lots of questions - so please share your answers ..

Tue Apr 12 2011 8:14:53 #
Tess
Member

As this post is as yet without a response here I go again.
How should OCD Action raise awareness? Well, I think perhaps it is a good time to review the various ways which are happening at present, sort out which are working well and which aren't so that the resources are targeted for maximum result. When I became an 'awareness champion' I spent a lot of time, and used a lot of OCD Action literature going round all the GP surgeries and I felt afterwards it had been wasted effort because none of the posters ever appeared in public so maybe we need to take the message to the general medical profession in a different way as Trudy has suggested in the thread on governance.
But - the interview I gave on local radio was very effective and just a few minutes of my time translated into several people realising they had a problem and seeking help - and one of those has now gone on to do his own radio interview, so for me awareness via the media gets a huge thumbs up.
The local awareness events are also an excellent way of spreading the word - and I have found that because OCD is slowly coming more into the spotlight the general mental health charities such as Rethink are willing to have an OCD stall at their awareness events - and this gets much needed information to mental health support workers. So I think it is worth considering creating working links with charities like Mind and Sane to provide specuialist OCD information.
I am personally not in favour of any sensationalist media stories about OCD, we are worth far more than that, and our stories are too sensitive and precious to be abused in this way, but a well constructed article in a quality publication is also a good way of raising awareness.
Who should we target? - well to my mind we should target everyone. What should we tell them? - the facts and the truth.
How do we get attention? - by finding sufferers willing to speak out in public about how OCD has affected their lives and by finding those with success stories who are willing to talk about their personal road to recovery.
In my fairly short experience of trying to help raise awareness it is the personal stories which people relate to best and which they carry away with them.

Wed Apr 13 2011 17:36:35 #
Tess
Member

I decided to rescue this thread because it has sunk a long way down along with it's 3 companion threads. So far only Trudy and myself have had anything to say on the matter.
I haven't any more ideas myself other than to say my comment on who we should target was not very helpful and perhaps others have an opinion on this. I think we need to know a lot more about the critical ages at which OCD is most likely to affect people. For me it raised it's ugly head at age 23, my son was 22. OCD Action are already working with schools and I think this could be extended to colleges and universities and especially medical schools so that all students going into the medical profession get adequate training. We need research into risk factors so that those at highest risk of self harm and suicide do not have to wait months for psychological therapies. There should be maximum waiting periods for therapy so that no-one has to wait an unreasonably long time with flexibility for those in greatest need to be seen earlier.
I now seem to have drifted on to the governance thread but this is something about which I personally feel strongly because of my own experiences.

Joel, you said in one of the threads about OCD Action's ambitions for the next 3 years. Are you able at this stage to let us know what the ambitions are?

Wed Apr 20 2011 9:54:00 #
Truddles
Member

OCD Action are already working with schools and I think this could be extended to colleges and universities and especially medical schools so that all students going into the medical profession get adequate training

I agree Tess, perhaps we could get posters into as many universities and colleges as possible. This links with another discussion thread for the stakeholder event http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/forums/topic/stakeholder-event-discussion-government-and-campaigning where I suggested the following:

All health professionals will encounter patients with OCD.
- All health professionals and allied professions will frequently encounter patients with OCD and yet many are completely oblivious as to exactly what OCD is and the severe impact that it can have on the sufferer’s life.
– Better education is therefore needed for all health and allied professions. Perhaps the IOP could do a video that included presentations from various specialists in OCD to be shown to all trainee health professionals etc and be available on line for any health professional to refer to. It could also be sent to all PCTs and CMHTs. In doing a video presentation this would remove the need for someone to go to each of the universities to give a lecture on OCD. Most professionals know about hand washing and checking but not some of the other types of OCD and most don’t know how to deal with a patient with OCD.

I also think that although the phrase 'It's time to act' on the current poster stands out, it doesn't shout Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and nowhere on the poster are the words Obsessive Compulsive Disorder It only says OCD once in the text and then in the website address and at the bottom in the name of the charity. As a stand alone poster it doesn't tell the public much, it's more a poster for people who are already aware that they or someone they know has OCD, even then it is easy to miss that it's a poster for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I tested this by asking members of public at random when I was out the other day if they knew what OCD was. Some said that they'd heard of it but weren't sure what it was, but when I asked if they'd heard of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder several had heard of that, though admittedly like a lot of doctors most thought it was just hand washing and checking and the poster doesn't do anything to dispel the notion that OCD is just hand washing and checking.

We need a poster that makes it a lot clearer that it's about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

To save the charity money how about putting the poster on the website so that people can download and print it themselves? And in order to know where posters are being placed, would it not be possible for people to have to fill in a box stating where they intend putting the poster in order to be able to download it?

Sat Apr 30 2011 11:55:38 #
Nimrod
Key Master

Just a reminder. The OCD Action Stakeholder event and AGM is at 6pm tomorrow (3rd May) at MIC, 81-103 Euston Street, London, NW1 2EZ.

You don't have to be a member of OCD Action to attend, and there will be something for everybody in the stakeholder part of the meeting. Everyone is welcome to attend the AGM part of the eeting but you do have to be a member to vote.

It will be a good event and there will be a chance for everyone to have a say in the way OCD Action is run and what you would like to see the charity doing in the future.

Mon May 2 2011 18:56:54 #