Mental Health Engagement and Recovery Animations

In 2022, the HSE Office of Mental Health Engagement and Recovery (MHER) hosted two consultations with women; one related to their experiences of mental health services and another about the impact of perimenopause and menopause on their mental health. They wanted to involve as many women as possible in the process and wanted to be able to share the women’s experiences but without revealing their identities to create a safe space for women to be open about their mental health experiences. 

We were brought on board to support the client in generating awareness of the consultations and in capturing the outcomes of the consultations in an authentic and visually appealing way.

We used animation to capture the women’s experiences with the use of 2D illustrations, a soft colour palette, textures and hand-drawn elements. These made the videos feel more personable and put emphasis on the personal and delicate nature of the subject. Characters were created using soft round shapes to complement this style and to represent women’s voices from a variety of backgrounds and age groups. The voiceover also reflected this through the use of different female voices telling real stories from women who attended the consultations, and a narrator’s voice helped to coherently deliver these stories and other key information. Typography throughout highlighted key moments in the scripts.

We supported the designing of two reports: one exploring menopause and perimenopause and another looking at women’s mental health services. Utilising the animations created for the videos, still graphics and characters were used throughout the reports. Typography and hand-drawn elements were used throughout to highlight key findings from the conversations and mirrored the video concept.

At the end of the project, we had produced two animated videos and two reports, which allowed women who attended the consultations to tell their stories anonymously. The reports were launched in March, to coincide with International Women’s Day where senior politicians and ministers were in attendance. The videos were played at the launch and released on social media. By capturing and expressing women’s real-life experiences the reports and animations are key tools in driving policy changes and reform in the delivery of women’s mental health services in Ireland.