This presentation was given to the Family Mental Health Support Niagara. We wanted to help these amazing caregivers an overview of how social media can keep them connected to friends and family, provide support and can help them become advocates for their loved one and mental health.

1. Using Social Media for Advocacy and Support

6. What We’re Going to Talk About
• What is Social Media?
• Personal - using social media to maintain or reconnect
with my friends, family and acquaintances.
• Support - using social media to find others with a
common experience or situation to find support and
share experiences.
• Advocacy - using social media to create your own
community to advocate change - stigma, raise money,
provide support to others.

7. What is Social Media?
Social media enables people to share opinions,
insights and experiences on the web using tools
to connect, interact and maintain and develop
relationships.
Or more simply:
I want to connect with people to share my
knowledge and experiences.

8. It’s about: Sharing, Connecting…it’s about Relationships.

9. It’s about You.
Photo credit – Chris Owens

15. Always Better Together.
Photo: gemsling

16. http://survivetothrive.typepad.com/

17. http://caregiverwellness.blogspot.com/

25. Becoming an Advocate

26. “If we talk about the absurdity of mental illness stigma it will begin to
disappear. If we can share the common story of how mental illness
affects our lives, we will see it for what it is — a variation of the human
condition. To harbour mental illness stigma is to harbour a stigma
against humanity.”
– Michael Schratter – www.ridedonthide.com

32. Photo: State Library and Archives of Florida

33. Photo: Darcy McCarty

35. Using Social Media for Advocacy and Support