Highly Commended
Making ADHD the Centre of Attention
Summary of work
ADHD is a common condition that affects one child in every classroom and 1.5 million adults in the UK.
In recent years, mental health has been a growing priority, however this has tended to focus on a small subset of mental health conditions. Despite its high prevalence and the consequences of not appropriately managing the condition, ADHD is often ignored.
People with ADHD are being ignored by policymakers and ignored by the healthcare system, with a postcode lottery in waiting times and access to services. In addition, even though schools bear a large amount of the costs of ADHD in young people and adolescents, they are not supported to enable equal opportunity for all. There is still a huge gap in understanding among teachers and healthcare professionals. GPs and teachers who see patients every day are not trained to recognise ADHD, and specialist secondary services are often not easily accessible. In November 2016, the company embarked on a campaign to increase diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment for people with ADHD.
Judges’ comments
This creative campaign from ENGINE MHP and Takeda ensured that ADHD had continued awareness within the mental health agenda. Their work with “super stakeholders” had impact and was well targeted. The judges also loved the honesty in the lessons learned.
