Mental Health First Aid training underway in Northern Ireland
Training developed in Australia to improve mental health literacy has been adapted for Northern Ireland by the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland (HPA).
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) provides basic skills on how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems such as psychosis, depression and anxiety, and shows participants how to provide initial help so that mental health crises may be avoided through early intervention. It is the very first step of intervention before a person receives professional help.
The training, which teaches participants to be ‘first aiders’, is specifically targeted at those working with individuals at risk of developing mental health problems, and addresses actions outlined in the Promoting mental health strategy and action plan 2003–2008 and Protect life: a shared vision. The Northern Ireland suicide prevention strategy and action plan 2006–2011.1
Deirdre McNamee, Senior Manager for Public Health at the HPA, said: “Knowledge and understanding of mental health is limited, yet in Northern Ireland approximately one in five people show signs of a possible mental health problem.2 Through this training, we hope that there will be greater awareness of mental health issues and increased understanding of how to deal with them.
“The aims of MHFA are to preserve life where a person may be a danger to themselves or others, to provide help to prevent the mental health problem developing into a more serious state, and to offer comfort and promote recovery from a mental health problem.”
Betty Kitchener, one of the authors of the course and Program Director of MHFA Australia, has been in Northern Ireland to assist with delivery of the 12 hour training programme to local instructors, who work in the areas of education, health, criminal justice, and the voluntary and community sectors.
Betty said: “I believe Northern Ireland is ready for this public education course and I’m thrilled to see the expertise and enthusiasm that the Northern Ireland MHFA team have put into the modification and roll out of this programme. MHFA has now been adapted in 12 countries and evaluations have shown that participants feel far more comfortable about the topic of mental illness, and are much more willing to engage with and help people who may have mental health problems.”
Demand for the training has increased following the success of a pilot programme in 2006. An evaluation of the pilot project found that 97% of participants were satisfied or very satisfied that the course showed them how to provide initial help to a person with a mental illness. A follow-up of participants who had been trained found that 79% had encountered someone experiencing a mental health problem and of these, 98% offered MHFA.3
Judy Colhoun, Director of Development and Quality at Aware Defeat Depression, said: “Aware Defeat Depression has been committed to bringing MHFA training to Northern Ireland since 2004 and we were delighted to be involved in the pilot programme with CAWT and the HPA. Since 2006, we have co-delivered 40 courses across Northern Ireland to a diverse range of participants from all sectors and the feedback has consistently been overwhelmingly positive.
“We are thrilled to have been so involved with the development of MHFA for Northern Ireland and will be running the first two of these courses before the end of March in Belfast and Coleraine.”
Following the instructor training, the Mental Health First Aid course will be delivered across Northern Ireland in a range of settings.
ENDS
Notes to the editor:
Betty Kitchener, Deirdre McNamee and Judy Colhoun will be available for interview on Friday 6 March.
For further information about MHFA, contact Michelle McMaster at the HPA on email: m.mcmaster@hpani.org.uk
The Mental Health First Aid pilot programme was undertaken as part of a collaboration between CAWT (Cooperation and Working Together), Aware Defeat Depression and the HPA.
For media enquiries contact:
The HPA Press Office on Tel: 028 9031 1611.
1 Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. Protect life: a shared vision. The Northern Ireland
suicide prevention strategy and action plan 2006–2011. Belfast: DHSSPS, 2006. Available at
www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/phnisuicidepreventionstrategy_action_plan-3.pdf
2 Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Northern Ireland health and social wellbeing survey 2006. Belfast: NISRA, 2007. Available at www.csu.nisra.gov.uk/HWB%200506%20topline%20bulletin.pdf
3 Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland. Summary evaluation of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) pilot programme in the CAWT region. Belfast: HPA, October 2008. A follow-up survey of 110 participants who had received MHFA training. Available at www.healthpromotionagency.org.uk/Resources/mental/pdfs/MHFA_summary_report.pdf |
As from 1 April 2009 all Health Promotion Agency responsibilities have been transferred to the