Govt office debuts with campaign to help people look after their mental health

The new Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has brought out its first campaign ahead of World Mental Health Day, designed to empower adults to take action to improve their mental wellbeing. 

“Better health – every mind matters” has been launched in response to research that found the pandemic had a negative impact on the wellbeing of half of adults (49%), while a third didn’t know where to turn for support and guidance during the pandemic. 

The ad, created by M&C Saatchi, leads with the message “Find what works for you”. 

It depicts the little things people can do to look after their mental wellbeing and is voiced by Stephen Fry. 

The OHID is a new government body that aims to tackle health inequalities across the UK by driving a prevention agenda across government to reduce health disparities. 

The body will address the top preventable risk factors for poor health, including obesity caused by unhealthy diets and lack of exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption.

The campaign is a cross-agency collaboration between M&C Saatchi, Wavemaker, OmniGov, Freuds and 23red. 

A coalition of mental health charities, including Calm, the Mental Health Foundation and Mental Health Innovations, is supporting the campaign. 

Ian Williams, OHID’s deputy director, marketing activation, said: “I am proud that ‘Better health – every mind matters’ is the first campaign to be launched by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities.

“The past 18 months have been incredibly challenging for us all, so this campaign represents timely use of marketing expertise to drive positive action on mental health.

“The fact that over 3.4 million ‘Mind Plans’ have been created since the campaign launched two years ago shows there is strong demand for the practical support it offers.”

Camilla Kemp, chief executive of M&C Saatchi, added: “We know, from all the research we have done, how important it is to focus on the solution and benefits of wellbeing rather than dwelling on the problem itself.

“In the run-up to World Mental Health Day, this campaign uses animation to both highlight the individual feelings people can experience as well as bring to life the simple, practical and individual actions we can all take to improve our mental health. These moments prompt and invite the audience to use ‘Every mind matters’ to find the things that can ‘work for you’ too.”