Skip to main content

Main menu

  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Our Team
    • Vision, Mission and Values
    • Health and Economic Impact
  • Our Research
    • Research Focus
      • Brain Health
      • Cancer
      • Cardiovascular Conditions and Diseases
      • Digital Health
      • Health Policy
      • Immunity and Infectious Diseases
      • Joint Health and Mobility
      • Respiratory and Lung Health
      • Spinal Cord Injury and Rehabilitation
    • Research Centres and Programs
      • BC Centre on Substance Use
      • Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation
      • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
      • Centre for Hip Health and Mobility
      • Centre for Lung Health
      • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
      • Immunity and Infection Research Centre
      • International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries
      • Ovarian Cancer Research Centre
      • Vancouver Prostate Centre
      • Community Research Program
      • Emergency Medicine Research Program
      • Hematology Research Program
      • Rehabilitation Research Program
      • Skin Research Program
      • Other Research Focus Areas
    • News and Stories
    • Researcher Directory
    • Events and Workshops
  • Research Services
    • New to VCHRI
      • Working at VCHRI
      • Regulations and Training
      • Membership with VCHRI
    • Starting Your Project
      • Research Facilitation
      • Awards and Funding
      • Grant Management
      • Operational Approval
    • Developing Your Project
      • Clinical Trials Administration
      • Clinical Research Unit
      • Research Privacy
      • Financial Policies and Procedures
    • Additional Support
      • Education and Training
      • Communications and Branding
      • Media Relations
      • Study Recruitment Support
      • Innovation and Industry Partnership
    • Internal Awards
    • Clinical Research
    • Innovation and Partnership
  • Participate in Research
    • Reasons to Participate
    • Participant Stories
    • Find a Study
    • Recruitment Support

User menu

  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Our Research
  3. News and Stories
  4. Measuring attitudes about mental illness

Measuring attitudes about mental illness

News Releases Oct 31, 2018 2 minutes

Living in HOpe documentary series capture the everyday lives of people living with mental illness.

Vancouver, BC – Can a documentary shape attitudes about mental illness? A Vancouver researcher is trying to find out. 

The Living in HOpe Research Study is based on the documentary Living in HOpe.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) granted Stranger Productions access to the Greta & Robert H.N. Ho Psychiatry and Education Centre (HOpe Centre) in North Vancouver where camera crews followed patients and health care providers for more than a year. 

As filming wrapped up, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and UBC Department of Psychiatry researcher Dr. Erin Michalak seized the opportunity to test the impact of the documentary on attitudes towards people with mental illness. 

"As a scientist, I saw this as a golden opportunity to evaluate whether this made-for-TV documentary could shape or alter beliefs, even though it wasn't produced solely as a vehicle to convey health information," says Dr. Michalak. 

120 people in Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria were invited to a special screening of Living in HOpe, Part 1: Another Day in Paradise. They were surveyed before the screening, immediately after and one month later. The study is expected to be published in early 2019. 

Living in HOpe producer Melanie Wood believes the documentary offers a bold challenge to rethink how we perceive people living with mental illness. "By sharing stories of patients when they are at their most vulnerable, we better understand that people living with mental illness are just people, and they have a voice," says Melanie. 

Living in HOpe airs on Knowledge Network (and streams on knowledge.ca) beginning November 6th. 

Vancouver Coastal Health is responsible for the delivery of $3.3 billion in community, hospital and residential care to more than one million people in communities including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola. VCH also provides highly specialized care and services for people throughout BC, and is the province's hub of health care education and research. 

Researchers

Erin Michalak

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Email

Get the latest research headlines in your inbox

Subscribe

Recent News and Stories

Type
Announcement

Team Grant Awards 2022 Recipients

Jun 14, 2022 award, mentorship
Type
Stories

Linking hospitals to province-wide pharmacies to prevent medication harm

Jun 10, 2022 preventative, drugs, technology
Type
Stories

Ask an expert: How can men stay healthy in this day and age?

Jun 8, 2022 men, healthy aging
See more news

Get updates!

Join our newsletter mailing list to stay up to date on features and releases.

Subscribe

Quick Links

  • News and Stories
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Media Enquiries

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

© 2022 VCHRI. All rights reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy