Impact of Opera on Mental Health Stigma: Pilot of Provider/Community Workshop

Kia Skrine Jeffers; Joseph D Mango; Lingqi Tang; Elyn R Saks; Kenneth B Wells; Bowen Chung

doi:10.1007/s10597-021-00908-4

Impact of Opera on Mental Health Stigma: Pilot of Provider/Community Workshop

Community Ment Health J. 2022 Jul;58(5):992-999. doi: 10.1007/s10597-021-00908-4. Epub 2021 Dec 1.

Authors

Kia Skrine Jeffers^{1

2}, Joseph D Mango^{3

4}, Lingqi Tang⁴, Elyn R Saks^{5

6}, Kenneth B Wells^{3

4

7

8

9}, Bowen Chung^{4

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ UCLA School of Nursing, 700 Tiverton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA. kiajeffers@ucla.edu.
² Center for the Study of Racism, Social Justice & Health, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA. kiajeffers@ucla.edu.
³ HEArts Program, Center for Health Services and Society, UCLA Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Center for Health Services and Society, UCLA Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Psychology, and Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, USC Gould School of Law, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁶ Saks Institute for Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics, USC Gould School of Law, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁷ Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁸ Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁹ Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration Health System, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: Arts can influence mental health stigma, but little is known about impact of operas. We examined effects of a two-opera workshop on complicated grief and schizophrenia.

Methods: Pre-post audience surveys with post-workshop discussion. The primary outcome was a 4-item measure of willingness to engage with persons with grief or schizophrenia. Secondary outcomes were perceptions of art affecting stigma and stigma mediators. Of 47 participants, 33 had pre-post surveys for both operas.

Results: There was a significant pre-post opera increase in audience willingness to engage with persons with grief or schizophrenia (p < .001). Perceptions of impact on mediators such as empathy, were significantly greater for the opera on schizophrenia relative to grief (p < .001)..

Conclusion: The pre- to post increase in audience willingness to engage with affected persons (primary) with greater impact on secondary mediators for the schizophrenia opera and post-discussion suggest that operas may be a forum for addressing mental health stigma and promoting empathy.

Keywords: Mental health stigma; Opera; Pilot evaluation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Grief
Humans
Mental Health*
Schizophrenia*
Social Stigma
Surveys and Questionnaires