Case Study: California Mental Health Services Authority boosts mental health help-seeking and stigma reduction with Civilian

CalMHSA reaches 1 million impressions with Civilian's mental health campaign

The California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) faced the challenge of reducing mental health stigma and increasing help-seeking behavior across its diverse population. To address this, CalMHSA engaged the vendor Civilian to design and implement a statewide social marketing campaign aimed at providing hope, practical tools, and easier access to mental health services for all Californians.

Civilian developed the "Take Action for Mental Health" campaign, which focused on three key actions: Check-In, Learn More, and Get Support. The solution included a multilingual website, targeted digital and social media outreach, and local coordination with county agencies. While a final evaluation is pending, initial results were significant. The campaign achieved over 233,000 unique website page views, distributed 488,000 materials to 46 counties, and generated the equivalent of $1.6 million in earned media coverage. Paid media efforts also exceeded industry benchmarks with over 11 million impressions.

California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA)