Dr. Guislain Award Ceremony
The Dr. Guislain Award Ceremony will take place on 8 October 2015, at the occasion of World Mental Health Day, in Flanders Opera in Ghent. The award reaches out to social and/or cultural initiatives that have made an exceptional contribution in breaking the stigma that today still characterize societies' perception on mental illnesses.
The award is a collaboration between Janssen Research & Development and the Dr. Guislain Museum of the Brothers of Charity, two institutes with a longstanding involvement and heritage in the field of mental health care and research. The winner of the Dr. Guislain Award receives $50,000.
Janssen Research & Development and Museum Dr. Guislain, in their own particular way, want to break the chains of stigma that today still characterize societies' perception on mental illnesses. People, organizations or projects all over the world that have made an exceptional contribution in dealing with, or promoting the attention for, mental health care are eligible to receive the Dr. Guislain Award. The intention of this international prize is to reward initiatives that approach people suffering from a mental illness as cultural, creative and social beings.
It is aimed at social and/or cultural initiatives that deal with mental health care in a scientific, clear and dynamic way. Initiatives that promote the creativity of those suffering from mental illness, including the prevention of social exclusion by questioning the boundary between normal and abnormal behavior in its social context. This concerns initiatives which emphasize the dignity of sufferers in a passionate, creative and innovative way. In other words, initiatives that focus on the abilities rather than on the shortcomings of the mentally ill.
Last year’s winner was Robin Hammond, a documentary photographer and filmmaker. He received the award for his striking photojournalism that exposes the mistreatment of mentally ill people in African nations in crisis.
For further information, please go to http://www.drguislainaward.org/
