Innovation summary

Many members of the community do not know how best to assist someone experiencing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis.

The goal of this innovation is to equip members of the public, by attending a 12-hour Mental Health First Aid , with the knowledge and skills needed to give initial effective assistance for these problems.

The program is based on the familiar concept of first aid training, and extends this to cover developing mental health problems and mental health crises, such as having depression, anxiety problems, psychosis, substance use problems, being suicidal, self injuring or having a traumatic experience.

Impact summary

  • 78% of community participants use their first aid skills to help someone following completion of the course
  • By mid 2015, in Australia, there are over 1,300 active instructors and over 400,000 members of the public have gone through the course. Worldwide, over one million people have attended a MHFA course
  • In Australia, the fee per person to do a 12-hour MHFA course ranges from US $65-320

"First aid training is available in many countries and widely accepted by the community. By linking a mental health training program to this established concept, there has been rapid public acceptance."

 

Anthony Jorm, Mental Health First Aid

 

Innovation details

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) was started in Australia by a wife-and-husband team, Betty Kitchener and Anthony Jorm, in 2000. Many members of the community do not know how best to assist someone developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis, so this training course was developed, using the first aid model, to equip members of the public with the knowledge and skills to assist someone with a mental health problem.

The innovation has spread to many other countries, including Bermuda, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland Japan, Malta, Nepal, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, USA, UK, Wales.

MHFA is delivered as a 12-hour training course (4 sessions of 3 hours each) by local accredited MHFA Instructors in their community. The program is based on the familiar concept of first aid training, and extends this to cover developing mental health problems and mental health crises, which has made it more readily accepted by the public. There are also a number of variant courses, including Youth Mental Health First Aid (for adults to learn how to assist adolescents) and Teen Mental Health First Aid(for adolescents to learn how to assist their peers).  In Australia, Canada and New Zealand, versions of the course have been developed for Indigenous peoples. In Australia, Mental Health First Aid training has also been adapted for delivery by eLearning.

Key drivers

Builds on the familiar first aid model

First aid training is available in many countries and is widely accepted by the community. By linking a mental health training program to this established concept, there has been rapid public acceptance.

Fulfills a global need

The prevalence of mental disorders is very high, so that members of the public will frequently have contact with someone affected. However, many people do not know how to react to someone affected. There is also a low rate of professional help-seeking across the world and long delays when help is sought. Stigma and discrimination are also widespread. MHFA training contributes to overcoming these problems.

The course can be tailored

The Standard 12-hour MHFA course has been adapted to meet the needs of specific cultural, age and occupational groups.

Strong partnership with research

All MHFA courses are rigorously evaluated before dissemination. The initial evaluations were all from Australia, but a number of evaluations from other countries are now available. The research shows that MHFA training increases knowledge, reduces stigmatizing attitudes and increases helping behavior. Furthermore, the content of the course has been based on international mental health first aid guidelines developed using Delphi expert consensus studies, using panels of professionals, consumer advocates and carer advocates. These guidelines cover a range of developing mental health problems and mental health crisis situations. The guidelines are available at https://mhfa.com.au/resources/mental-health-first-aid-guidelines

Procedures for quality control

A range of procedures have been implemented for quality control of course delivery, including: selection, training and continuing education of instructors; quality and up-to-date manuals and teaching materials; and standardized participant feedback forms.

Sustainable funding model

Like conventional physical first aid training, MHFA training can be sustained by charging fees for services. In the longer-term, it is necessary for countries to promote equity in provision of first aid training, with Mental Health First Aid training being seen as important as physical first aid training. If there is equity, there will be a growing market for MHFA.

Commitment of staff

The quality and commitment of the staff involved are one of the key assets of the program. Many of the people involved in the initial and continuing development of MHFA have been affected by mental illness, either personally or in a loved one. Their experience has fueled a strong commitment to the program, which has been important to its development and expansion.

Challenges

  • Gathering initial funding for resources
  • Partnerships with larger mental health organizations have caused problems due to the lack of ring fencing funds required by the program
  • There have been some difficulties in protecting MHFA from being used for profit generation rather than as a sustainable community service activity

Continuation

The program started in Australia in 2000 and, by 2015, had spread to over 20 other countries. In Australia, where it is been most fully implemented, the program has reached over 2% of the adult population. It is therefore feasible to aim for 1% of the population of developed countries to be trained in the short term. In the longer term, a realistic goal would be parity with physical first aid training. For example, in Australia, 11% of adults have done a conventional physical first aid training course in the previous 3 years. In low and middle income countries, it is unclear what a feasible target might be.

A number of specialty courses are under development or have recently been developed, including teen Mental Health First Aid, Mental Health First Aid for Older Persons, and tailored Mental Health First Aid courses for students training in medicine, nursing and other health and human service professions. Web-based eLearning has recently become available.

Partners

Funders
  • In Australia the government provided start-up funding though the program is now self-sustaining on a fee-for-service basis
  • Variation exists between countries

Evaluation methods

​​Since it began in 2000, MHFA Australia has been committed to evaluating its training programs using rigorous, scientific studies and has been evaluated through published randomized controlled trials, uncontrolled experimental trials and qualitative studies.

A meta analysis of the evaluations was published in 2014. The results demonstrate that MHFA increases participants’ knowledge regarding mental health, decreases their negative attitudes, and increases supportive behaviours toward individuals with mental health problems. The authors concluded that MHFA program appears recommendable for public health action.
All evaluations can be found here: https://mhfa.com.au/research/mhfa-course-evaluations

Cost of implementation

  • In Australia, where the program has been disseminated most widely, government or philanthropic funding has been used to seed the program, after which it is self-sustainable due to the fee-for-service aspect
  • For a fee of $USD 3,200 MHFA Australia trains instructors to teach the course. Instructors are not employed by MHFA Australia, but run the course in their local communities. Some instructors are employed by NGOs or government agencies, whereas others are private practitioners
  • The fee per person to do a 12-hour MHFA course ranges from USD $65-320. This varies between countries

Impact details

  • In Australia, by mid 2015, there were over 1,300 active instructors and over 750,000 members of the public have gone through the course, which is just over 2% of the adult population
  • Other countries that have data available have trained the following: USA 490,000; Canada 150,000; England 100,000; Scotland 48,000. Internationally, the number trained exceeds 1,000,000
  • The research shows that MHFA training improved knowledge of mental illnesses and their treatments, knowledge of appropriate first aid strategies and confidence in providing first aid to individuals with mental illness, benefits which are maintained over time
  • Some studies have also shown improved mental health in those who attend the training, decreases in stigmatizing attitudes and increases in the amount and type of support provided to others
  • Furthermore, the content of the course has been based on international mental health first aid guidelines developed using Delphi expert consensus studies, using panels of professionals, consumer advocates and carer advocates

Research

Tools

Reports

Comments

Submitted by Sandeep Suthar on Monday, 2nd November 2015
Hello, is there any one to help me , i need serious help. please respond me i am in need support of mental health rehabilitation...
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