The researchers using escape rooms to crush mental health stigma

There’s a big barrier setting people back every day from seeking the healthcare they need — stigma.

It can be hard to spot, and even harder to speak up about but stigma in healthcare can lead to very real feelings of shame, blame, and isolation. 

Fortunately, there’s a lot of work being done at Bond University to crush this stigma thanks to a group of researchers from the Collaboration for Research in Understanding Stigma in Healthcare (CRUSH). 

CRUSH researchers have spent almost a year conceptualising and designing one of their latest immersive projects — four escape rooms which have opened within the Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine. 

Participants took their first crack at decoding the clues within the escape rooms in October 2023, learning concepts of internalised stigma related to mental health along the way. 

“We set up these escape rooms as a fun, interactive way to educate people about stigma,” researcher Carly Hudson said. 

“The rooms are set up as if they’re the bedroom of a person who no longer wants to go meet their friend for a coffee, due to ongoing mental health problems which, due to stigma, they are afraid to speak up about.

“We have a few different puzzles which people need to solve, and within them there’s educational materials around stigma and mental health problems.” 

The participants come away with an understanding of what stigma is and how it affects people, and they also play an important role in informing research. 

CRUSH is taking measures around the participants’ perception of stigma, before and after the escape room experience.

The outcomes will inform researchers on the feasibility of using such intervention in addressing internalised or self-stigma among health educators and students.