See Me See Change
About See Me See Change in schools
See Me See Change (SMSC) is a whole institution approach that has been developed by See Me (Scotland’s national mental health anti-stigma programme) through a combination of co-production with young people, piloting the approach with various institutions and local authorities across Scotland, and input from a range of key partners and stakeholders.
SMSC is for anyone who is interested in learning more about the impact that stigma and discrimination can have for people who experience mental health problems and wants to do something to make things better.
The approach links with existing policy and practice including the Scottish Government’s whole school approach framework for supporting children and young people’s mental health, as well as supporting pupils in the achievement of their level 4 SQA Mental Health and Wellbeing Award.
Why explore a SMSC approach for college and university settings?
Think Positive is really excited to be working with See Me to explore how SMSC could be used within Scottish college and university settings. SMSC has been very successful within schools, equipping both pupils and staff with knowledge around mental health stigma and discrimination, as well as identifying ways to create meaningful institutional change.
Whilst progress has been made over the years, we know there’s still more to be done. The Thriving Learners college research (2022) and Thriving Learners university research (2021) found that 56.9% of university students and 55% of college students reported concealing a mental health problem for fear of stigmatization.
Supporting Scottish colleges and universities to build capacity to tackle stigma and discrimination through a whole settings approach will support culture change and ensure that education institutions are stigma-free and mental health inclusive.
Colleges, universities and students’ associations across Scotland are already working towards tackling mental health stigma and discrimination through their Student Mental Health Agreements, and we believe that SMSC will both strengthen and complement the work already taking place.
Updates on SMSC for college and university settings
SeeMe and Think Positive have been collaborating on this project since April 2024.
Throughout August 2024, two feedback groups met to provide feedback on the current resources, to share thoughts on how the programme could work in college and university settings and to share their lived experience of stigma and discrimination.
Both the student and staff group had representation from rural and city based colleges and universities. The groups met separately each week throughout August.
All of the feedback from the student and staff groups has now been collected and reviewed by SeeMe and Think Positive. The next phase of the project is to begin developing the course content based on this feedback and to learn from the knowledge and experience of support and/or disability teams within colleges and universities.
At this time we’re particularly keen to hear from those working in support and/or disability teams as well as students who would like to share their experiences of stigma and discrimination. If you’re interested in getting involved please contact us.
