We identified several features of mental health related stigma and the ensuing discrimination in Czech Republic experienced by persons with severe mental illness and their relatives. We developed a set of recommendations for policy-makers aimed at reducing ignorance and prejudice amongst the public and professionals, improving health and social services-including employment, housing and community integration-and the provision of family support.

ABSTRACT:Video is considered to be an effective, easy to use tool employed in anti-stigma interventions among young people. Mass media has been shown to be effective for reducing stigma; however, there is insufficient evidence to determine the destigmatization effects of videos specifically. This article systematically reviews the effectiveness of video intervention in reducing stigma among young people between 13 and 25 years.We searched 13 electronic databases including randomized controlled trials, cluster randomized controlled trials, and controlled before and after studies. Of the 1426 abstracts identified, 23 studies (reported in 22 papers) met the inclusion criteria.Video interventions led to improvements in stigmatising attitudes. Video was found to be more effective than other interventions, such as classical face-to-face educational sessions or simulation of hallucinations. According to results of two studies, social contact delivered via video achieved similar destigmatization effect to that delivered via a live intervention.Although the quality of studies as well as the form of video interventions varied, the findings suggest that video is a promising destigmatization tool among young people; however, more studies in this area are needed. There was a lack of evidence for interventions outside of school environments, in low-and middle-income countries, and studies which looked at long-term outcomes or measured impact on actual behaviour and implicit attitudes. The review generates recommendations for video interventions targeted at young people.

Our results contradict the findings of ecological studies which indicated a strong correlation between the decreasing number of psychiatric beds and an increasing number of people with mental health problems who were homeless or in prison.

Seminar had the strongest and relatively stable effect on students' attitudes and intended behaviour, but the effect of short video interventions was also considerable and stable over time. Since short effective video interventions are relatively cheap, conveniently accessible and easy to disseminate globally, we recommend them for further research and development.

Our findings demonstrate more favourable attitudes towards people with mental illness among Czech medical doctors when compared to the Czech general population. Stigma, however, is high among both these groups.