This Is My Brave Evaluation Project
The STAR Lab is currently partnering with This Is My Brave (https://thisismybrave.org/), to evaluate their anti-stigma programming. TIMB’s Mission is:
“… to end the stigma surrounding mental illness by sharing personal stories of individuals overcoming mental illness through poetry, essay and original music, live on stage, through stories submitted and published to our blog, and via our YouTube channel.
Through the sharing of stories and experiences of those in recovery, we provide a sense of community and hope; and encourage others to share their stories. We believe that each time one of us shares our story, there’s another crack helping to break down the stigma of mental illness. Right now, it's time to #LiveBrave and bring mental health issues into the spotlight because they've been in the dark too long."
This evaluation involves four separate research studies. The first two studies evaluate the impact of TIMB programming on stigma among the audience members. The second two studies aim to explore the impact of participation in TIMB performances on the storytellers themselves.
Summary of TIMB Evaluation Projects:
1) A pre-post survey study provides pilot data on the efficacy of the TIMB in reducing public stigma surrounding mental illness.
Click here to view a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the findings of the pre-post pilot study.
Kosyluk, K.A., Marshall, J., *Rivera Macias, D., *Andrus, D.T., *Guerra, D., *Robinson, M., *Ostos, A.P., & *Chapman, S. (2018). Examining the Impact of This Is My Brave on Mental Illness Stigma and Willingness to Seek Help: A Pilot Study. Community Mental Health Journal, 54(3), 276-281.
Click here to download a copy of the manuscript reporting these findings.
2) An RCT investigating the impact of TIMB relative to a comparison anti-stigma condition and control condition and also examines possible mediators of TIMB impact including character empathy, perceived similarity to characters, and character identification.
Kosyluk, K.A., Marshall, J., Conner, K.O., *Rivera Macias, D., *Macias, S., *Beekman, B.M., *Her, J. (2020). Challenging the Stigma of Mental Illness through Creative Storytelling: A Randomized Controlled Trial of This Is My Brave. Community Mental Health Journal.
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10597-020-00625-4
3) A quantitative study we are calling "the Storyteller Study" evaluating the impact of participating in TIMB performances on the performers with lived experience with mental illness. This study frames participation in TIMB performances, publicly sharing one’s experience of mental illness, as having potential for reductions in self-stigma and increases in recovery, empowerment, and self-esteem. We hypothesize that participation in the TIMB program by people with lived experience with mental illness will lead to (from pre-performance to post-performance):
4) A qualitative Storyteller Study exploring the impact of performing in a TIMB show on performers' lives and how performers' made the decision to participate in the program.
5) The STAR Lab Director, Kristin Kosyluk, and STAR Lab Doctoral Students, Michelle Beekman, along with Jennifer Marshall (Co-Founder and Executive Director of TIMB, and Dr. Kyaien Conner (Associate Professor of Mental Health Law & Policy at USF) were selected as a members of the 2019 Fall cohort of USF I-Corps Fellows. This was a rare honor and an exceptional opportunity, as the competition for the I-Corps program is rigorous, and USF is one of only a few designated I-Corps Sites around the country. The awarded proposal represented a partnership between Dr. Kosyluk, Dr. Kyaien Conner of USF's Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, Ms. B. Michelle Beekman, and Ms. Jennifer Marshall, Co-Founder and Executive Director of TIMB. The I-Corps program provided the team with a condensed, but intense, immersion in how to find the business behind their proposed idea (developing a product meant to harness the power of TIMB's storytelling approach to stigma change to increase engagement with mental health care), with hands-on, real world experience.The team participated in a concentrated six session course (nicknamed “bootcamp”), from Monday, September 16, 2019 through November 4, 2019. The bootcamp was led by experts who will helped the team find and talk with future customers, create a business model canvas, and develop the proposed idea into a potentially viable commercial product or opportunity. To facilitate the team's customer discovery process, they were awarded a $3,000 subgrant from NSF I-Corps Site grant (Kosyluk, PI). The team is currently pursuing external funding to test the effectiveness of their product.
6) A pre-post study of the impact of TIMB's Facebook program, BraveTV, among college students is currently underway.
7) A pre-post study of the impact of viewing the TIMB mini-documentary on audience member stigma. You can find more info about the documentary here.
8) A qualitative project using Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the narratives of TIMB storytellers using the existing catalogue of TIMB videos to answer the following research question and sub-questions:
Main Research Question: How do power structures influence the experience of mental illness or substance use disorders for TIMB performers
Sub Questions:
“… to end the stigma surrounding mental illness by sharing personal stories of individuals overcoming mental illness through poetry, essay and original music, live on stage, through stories submitted and published to our blog, and via our YouTube channel.
Through the sharing of stories and experiences of those in recovery, we provide a sense of community and hope; and encourage others to share their stories. We believe that each time one of us shares our story, there’s another crack helping to break down the stigma of mental illness. Right now, it's time to #LiveBrave and bring mental health issues into the spotlight because they've been in the dark too long."
This evaluation involves four separate research studies. The first two studies evaluate the impact of TIMB programming on stigma among the audience members. The second two studies aim to explore the impact of participation in TIMB performances on the storytellers themselves.
Summary of TIMB Evaluation Projects:
1) A pre-post survey study provides pilot data on the efficacy of the TIMB in reducing public stigma surrounding mental illness.
Click here to view a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the findings of the pre-post pilot study.
Kosyluk, K.A., Marshall, J., *Rivera Macias, D., *Andrus, D.T., *Guerra, D., *Robinson, M., *Ostos, A.P., & *Chapman, S. (2018). Examining the Impact of This Is My Brave on Mental Illness Stigma and Willingness to Seek Help: A Pilot Study. Community Mental Health Journal, 54(3), 276-281.
Click here to download a copy of the manuscript reporting these findings.
2) An RCT investigating the impact of TIMB relative to a comparison anti-stigma condition and control condition and also examines possible mediators of TIMB impact including character empathy, perceived similarity to characters, and character identification.
Kosyluk, K.A., Marshall, J., Conner, K.O., *Rivera Macias, D., *Macias, S., *Beekman, B.M., *Her, J. (2020). Challenging the Stigma of Mental Illness through Creative Storytelling: A Randomized Controlled Trial of This Is My Brave. Community Mental Health Journal.
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10597-020-00625-4
3) A quantitative study we are calling "the Storyteller Study" evaluating the impact of participating in TIMB performances on the performers with lived experience with mental illness. This study frames participation in TIMB performances, publicly sharing one’s experience of mental illness, as having potential for reductions in self-stigma and increases in recovery, empowerment, and self-esteem. We hypothesize that participation in the TIMB program by people with lived experience with mental illness will lead to (from pre-performance to post-performance):
- Greater perceived benefits of “coming out” with one’s story of mental illness.
- Decreased symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.
- Increased self-esteem.
- Increased empowerment.
4) A qualitative Storyteller Study exploring the impact of performing in a TIMB show on performers' lives and how performers' made the decision to participate in the program.
5) The STAR Lab Director, Kristin Kosyluk, and STAR Lab Doctoral Students, Michelle Beekman, along with Jennifer Marshall (Co-Founder and Executive Director of TIMB, and Dr. Kyaien Conner (Associate Professor of Mental Health Law & Policy at USF) were selected as a members of the 2019 Fall cohort of USF I-Corps Fellows. This was a rare honor and an exceptional opportunity, as the competition for the I-Corps program is rigorous, and USF is one of only a few designated I-Corps Sites around the country. The awarded proposal represented a partnership between Dr. Kosyluk, Dr. Kyaien Conner of USF's Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, Ms. B. Michelle Beekman, and Ms. Jennifer Marshall, Co-Founder and Executive Director of TIMB. The I-Corps program provided the team with a condensed, but intense, immersion in how to find the business behind their proposed idea (developing a product meant to harness the power of TIMB's storytelling approach to stigma change to increase engagement with mental health care), with hands-on, real world experience.The team participated in a concentrated six session course (nicknamed “bootcamp”), from Monday, September 16, 2019 through November 4, 2019. The bootcamp was led by experts who will helped the team find and talk with future customers, create a business model canvas, and develop the proposed idea into a potentially viable commercial product or opportunity. To facilitate the team's customer discovery process, they were awarded a $3,000 subgrant from NSF I-Corps Site grant (Kosyluk, PI). The team is currently pursuing external funding to test the effectiveness of their product.
6) A pre-post study of the impact of TIMB's Facebook program, BraveTV, among college students is currently underway.
7) A pre-post study of the impact of viewing the TIMB mini-documentary on audience member stigma. You can find more info about the documentary here.
8) A qualitative project using Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the narratives of TIMB storytellers using the existing catalogue of TIMB videos to answer the following research question and sub-questions:
Main Research Question: How do power structures influence the experience of mental illness or substance use disorders for TIMB performers
Sub Questions:
- How do TIMB performers define recovery?
- How do TIMB performers communicate about illness? Wellness?
- What stalls recovery among TIMB performers?
- What are the stigma experiences relayed in TIMB performances?
- How is stigma talked about in TIMB performances?
- What are the stigma experiences relayed in TIMB performances?
- How is treatment talked about in TIMB performances?
- What are the barriers to treatment communicated in TIMB performances?
- What are the facilitators to treatment communicated in TIMB performances?