Reducing stigma and discrimination: A case study of a ‘Human Library' Reading event

Mental health disorders are widespread, affecting millions of people globally, creating a significant disease burden and leading to premature mortality. Stigma, discrimination, and social exclusion remain key barriers to mental healthcare, often preventing individuals from seeking help. Cultural differences shape the experience of stigma. To reduce stigma, three main intervention strategies are commonly used: education, social contact, and activism. Educational initiatives aim to replace harmful stereotypes with facts, while social contact programs, such as the ‘Human Library’, facilitate direct interactions between individuals drawn from stigmatised groups to improve understanding, reduce stigma, and discrimination. In the ‘Human Library’, people from marginalised groups, known as ‘Books’ share personal experiences with small groups of ‘Readers’. These interactions foster empathy and reduce prejudice. In this case study, we describe how we integrated the ‘Human Library’ into the curriculum of a postgraduate programme. Feedback across two consecutive cohorts of students indicated that the event was highly informative and encouraged students to challenge their own biases. The project’s success has led to plans for its continued use, with hopes to further assess its impact on mental health literacy and prejudice as well adapting it for our online distance learning students.