Pilot Study - Mental Health First Aid

What is Mental Health First Aid?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an educational programme that aims to increase public awareness of mental illness, suicide attempts, and suicide. The programme focuses on helping people recognize signs of mental health problems and respond appropriately until professional support is available.

Youth version of MHFA (MHFA Youth)

MHFA Youth is designed for adults who are in contact with young people aged 12–18. This includes parents, teachers, school staff, social workers, sports coaches, and others who support young people in everyday settings.

The training provides guidance on how to support a young person experiencing mental health problems or an acute mental health crisis, including suicidal behaviour, before professional treatment can be arranged.

The aims of mental health first aid for young people are to:

• Help protect the life of a young person who may be at risk of self-harm or suicide
• Support the young person in accessing professional help before the situation worsens
• Support recovery
• Provide practical support to young people experiencing mental health problems
• Teach participants how mental health first aid is provided
• Improve understanding of symptoms linked to different mental illnesses and mental health crises
• Teach how to approach and communicate with a person who may need support
• Explain how to guide a person towards appropriate professional treatment and other support services

The government's mission: MHFA Youth

In June 2012, NASP received a government assignment to pilot the youth version of MHFA in Sweden. After obtaining the educational rights from Australia, NASP adapted and translated the material, trained lead instructors, and developed an infrastructure to support nationwide implementation.

Stockholm and Jönköping counties were selected to test the programme. In Stockholm County, NASP assigned MIND to organize instructor selection and train 1,000 mental health first aiders in consultation with the National Steering Group for Suicide Prevention. In Jönköping, the same assignment was given to NSPH (National Collaboration for Mental Health).

The pilot project was funded through the Government’s PRIO Mental Illness action plan, which focused on targeted interventions in the mental health field.

Before implementation of both MHFA and MHFA Youth, information about the government decision was shared with partner and patient organizations. Planning, collaboration, target groups, and the selection of pilot counties were developed in dialogue with these organizations.

The pilot project was also carried out in consultation with the National Steering Group for Suicide Prevention. The group included representatives from NASP, Stockholm County Council, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL), the Church of Sweden, the Swedish Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the National Police, SPES (the National Association for Suicide Prevention and Support for Survivors), the Swedish National Agency for Education, the Swedish Psychiatric Association, Uppsala University, the Institute of Public Health, and NSPH.

More information

Read more about the Australian MHFA programme. 

NASP offers instructor training courses in Sweden. Information about these and other courses is available on the NASP education site.

Publications

Mental Health First Aid is an effective public health intervention for improving knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour: a meta-analysis.
Hadlaczky G, Hökby S, Mkrtchian A, Carli V, Wasserman D
Int Rev Psychiatry 2014 Aug;26(4):467–75