In figures provided to the <strong><em>Medical Independent</em></strong> (<strong><em>MI</em></strong>), the HSE said it has spent €3,512,667 in total since the campaign was launched in October 2014.
“This covers media, print, website and evaluation,” a HSE spokesperson told <strong><em>MI</em></strong>.
The yearly breakdown is €895,676 in 2014, €1,430,269 in 2015 and €1,186,722 last year.
The #littlethings initiative is a positive mental health campaign created by the HSE’s Mental Health and Communications Divisions and 32 partner organisations.
The HSE’s spokesperson told <strong><em>MI</em></strong> that “more than 50,000 people have liked our Facebook page and the campaign has more than 7,300 followers on Twitter”.
There have been increased visits to yourmentalhealth.ie, added the spokesperson. This website “has received more than 600,000 visitors, with more than 1.6 million page views since the start of the campaign. People visit the website for supportive information on mental health and signposting to services”.
A recent omnibus evaluation of the campaign, which was conducted in November, “found that 73 per cent of respondents said the campaign adverts make you think differently about feeling down”, according to the HSE.
“Over a third (38 per cent) said that after seeing the adverts, they thought more about the little things that can help your mental health. As a result of the campaign, over a third (35 per cent) of respondents said they did something with the intention of looking after their mental health.”
<p class=”captionwhiteMIstyles”>The HSE spokesperson added that this year would see a “full review” of the campaign to “inform future direction for mental health communications to ensure all activities are as effective as possible”.
