Dataset Information

Youth mental health first aid: a description of the program and an initial evaluation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Adolescence is the peak age of onset for mental illness, with half of all people who will ever have a mental illness experiencing their first episode prior to 18 years of age. Early onset of mental illness is a significant predictor for future episodes. However, adolescents and young adults are less likely than the population as a whole to either seek or receive treatment for a mental illness. The knowledge and attitudes of the adults in an adolescent's life may affect whether or not help is sought, and how quickly. In 2007, the Youth Mental Health First Aid Program was launched in Australia with the aim to teach adults, who work with or care for adolescents, the skills needed to recognise the early signs of mental illness, identify potential mental health-related crises, and assist adolescents to get the help they need as early as possible. This paper provides a description of the program, some initial evaluation and an outline of future directions.

Methods

The program was evaluated in two ways. The first was an uncontrolled trial with 246 adult members of the Australian public, who completed questionnaires immediately before attending the 14 hour course, one month later and six months later. Outcome measures were: recognition of schizophrenia or depression; intention to offer and confidence in offering assistance; stigmatising attitudes; knowledge about adolescent mental health problems and also about the Mental Health First Aid action plan. The second method of evaluation was to track the uptake of the program, including the number of instructors trained across Australia to deliver the course, the number of courses they delivered, and the uptake of the YMHFA Program in other countries.

Results

The uncontrolled trial found improvements in: recognition of schizophrenia; confidence in offering help; stigmatising attitudes; knowledge about adolescent mental health problems and application of the Mental Health First Aid action plan. Most results were maintained at follow-up. Over the first 3 years of this program, a total of 318 instructors were trained to deliver the course and these instructors have delivered courses to 10,686 people across all states and territories in Australia. The program has also spread to Canada, Singapore and England, and will spread to Hong Kong, Sweden and China in the near future.

Conclusions

Initial evaluation suggests that the Youth Mental Health First Aid course improves participants' knowledge, attitudes and helping behaviour. The program has spread successfully both nationally and internationally.

Trial registration

ACTRN12609000033246.

SUBMITTER: Kelly CM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3041764 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Youth mental health first aid: a description of the program and an initial evaluation.

Kelly Claire M CM Mithen Johanna M JM Fischer Julie A JA Kitchener Betty A BA Jorm Anthony F AF Lowe Adrian A Scanlan Chris C

International journal of mental health systems 20110127 1

<h4>Background</h4>Adolescence is the peak age of onset for mental illness, with half of all people who will ever have a mental illness experiencing their first episode prior to 18 years of age. Early onset of mental illness is a significant predictor for future episodes. However, adolescents and young adults are less likely than the population as a whole to either seek or receive treatment for a mental illness. The knowledge and attitudes of the adults in an adolescent's life may affect whether ...[more]

PMID: 21272345

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Project description:BackgroundEating disorders cause significant burden that may be reduced by early and appropriate help-seeking. However, despite the availability of effective treatments, very few individuals with eating disorders seek treatment. Training in mental health first aid is known to be effective in increasing mental health literacy and supportive behaviours, in the social networks of individuals with mental health problems. Increases in these domains are thought to improve the likelihood that effective help is sought. However, the efficacy of mental health first aid for eating disorders has not been evaluated. The aim of this research was to examine whether specific training in mental health first aid for eating disorders was effective in changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours towards people with eating disorders.MethodsA repeated measures, uncontrolled trial was conducted to establish proof of concept and provide guidance on the future design of a randomised controlled trial. Self-report questionnaires, administered at baseline, post-training and 6-month follow-up, assessed the effectiveness of the 4-hour, single session, mental health first aid training.Results73 participants completed the training and all questionnaires. The training intervention was associated with statistically significant increases in problem recognition and knowledge of appropriate mental health first aid strategies, which were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Sustained significant changes in attitudes and behaviours were less clear. 20 participants reported providing assistance to someone with a suspected eating disorder, seven of whom sought professional help as a result of the first aid interaction. Results provided no evidence of a negative impact on participants or the individuals they provided assistance to.ConclusionsThis research provides preliminary evidence for the use of training in mental health first aid as a suitable intervention for increasing community knowledge of and support for people with eating disorders to seek appropriate help.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12611001181998.

Project description:Youth stand at the core of much mental health promotion, yet little is written about their experiences of such efforts. We aimed to take this on by interviewing youth after they participated in Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM), a universal mental health promotion program. YAM has a non-anticipatory methodology that provides youth with a safe space for reflection, role-play, and discussion. Addressing everyday mental health, YAM invites the experiences and issues relevant to the youth present to influence the program in a slightly different direction every time. The YAM instructor guides the participants but does not present the youth with given formulas on how to solve their problems. Like any mental health promotion, YAM appeals to some more than others in its intended audience and individuals engage with the program in many different ways. We set out to learn more about these experiences.Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15-17 year olds in Estonia, Italy, Romania and Spain. In these interviews, the researchers made an effort to discuss mental health in terms relevant to youth. Still, wide-ranging levels of motivation, ease with engaging in dialogue with mental health professionals, and comfort with the format and content of YAM were detected. The youth were clustered in five different groups relating to their positioning vis-à-vis the researcher during the interview. The following evocative labels were used: "interested", "foot in the door", "respect for authority", "careful", and "not my topic". Corresponding labels were devised for their YAM experience: "engaged", "initially hesitant", "cautious", "eager to please", or "disengaged". We also observed that the researchers brought their own expectations and employed a variety of approaches that led to anticipating answers, stating the obvious, or getting along better with some of the youth. These modes of interaction were categorized under: "favoritism", "familiarity", "frustration", "out of sync", and "insecurity". Similar power dynamics likely transpire in other encounters between youth and researchers, including interventions such as YAM.As mental health professionals, we need to be aware of the professional habits and biases that sometimes obstruct us in understanding the experiences of youth. By initiating dialogue and listening closely to youth we can find a way to those experiences. Qualitative research can help bring the underlying interplay between mental health professionals and youth to the surface while also orienting the conversation towards topics that matter to youth. Some youth are more interested or feel more at ease in speaking openly with mental health professionals, while others find such exchanges less appealing or almost intolerable. Future mental health promotion initiatives would benefit from involving youth in the design of interventions to create an inclusive atmosphere and engage with topics that appeal to youth with diverse experiences of mental health.

Project description:Backgroundteen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is a universal mental health literacy, stigma reduction, help-seeking, and suicide prevention program designed for adolescents in Years 10-12 of secondary school (16-18 years). tMHFA is delivered by trained instructors, in a regular classroom setting, to increase the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that adolescents' require to better support peers with mental health problems or mental health crises.MethodsTo explore the efficacy of tMHFA, a cluster crossover randomised controlled trial was conducted with Year 10 students in four schools in Victoria, Australia, using physical first aid training as the control intervention. Of the 1942 eligible students, 1,624 completed baseline and 894 completed follow-up surveys. Online surveys, administered one week before training and again 12-months later, included vignettes depicting peers John (depression and suicide risk) and Jeanie (social anxiety/phobia), measures of mental health first aid (quality of first aid intentions, confidence, first aid behaviours provided, and first aid behaviours received), mental health literacy (beliefs about adult help, help-seeking intentions), and stigma (social distance, weak-not-sick, dangerous/unpredictable, and would not tell anyone).ResultsThe primary outcome-quality of first aid intentions towards the John vignette-showed statistically significant group x time interactions, with tMHFA students reporting more helpful and less unhelpful first aid intentions, than PFA students did over time. Confidence in providing first aid also showed significant interactions. First aid behaviours-both those provided to a peer with a mental health problem and those received from a peer-showed null results. Ratings of both beliefs about adult help and help-seeking intentions were found to be significantly improved among tMHFA students at follow-up. A group x time interaction was found on one stigma scale (would not tell anyone).ConclusionsThis trial showed that, one year after training, tMHFA improves first aid intentions towards peers with depression and suicide risk, confidence in helping peers with mental health problems, willingness to tell someone and seek help from an adult or health professional if experiencing a mental health problem.Trial registrationThis research was registered with Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12614000061639 .

Project description:BACKGROUND:There is well-established evidence that Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training improves knowledge about how to support someone developing a mental health problem, but less evidence that this support improves the mental health of the recipient of aid. This randomised controlled trial aimed to assess the long-term effects of MHFA training of parents on the mental health of their adolescent children. METHODS:384 Australian parents of an adolescent aged 12-15 were randomised to receive either the 14-h Youth MHFA course or the 15-h Australian Red Cross Provide First Aid course. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 1-year, and 2-year follow-up in both parents and adolescents. Primary outcomes were cases of adolescent mental health problems, and parental support towards their adolescent if they developed a mental health problem, rated by the parent and adolescent. Secondary outcomes included parent knowledge about mental health problems, intentions and confidence in supporting a young person, stigmatizing attitudes, and help-seeking for mental health problems. RESULTS:Parent and adolescent reports showed no significant difference between training groups in the proportion of cases of adolescents with a mental health problem over time (ps > .05). There was also no significant difference between training groups in the quality of parental support provided to their adolescent at 1- or 2-year follow-up (ps > .05). In contrast, some secondary outcomes showed benefits from the Youth MHFA training relative to the control, with increased parental knowledge about mental health problems at 1-year (d = 0.43) and 2-year follow-up (d = 0.26), and increased confidence to help a young person (d = 0.26) and intentions to provide effective support (d = 0.22) at 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS:The study showed some improvements in mental health literacy in training recipients, but could not detect changes in the mental health of adolescents and the support provided to them by their parents if they had a mental health problem. However, there was a lack of power to detect primary outcome effects and therefore the question of whether MHFA training leads to better outcomes in the recipients of aid remains to be further explored. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ACTRN12612000390886 , registered retrospectively 5/4/2012.

Project description:In the U.S., an estimated one in five individuals experience a mental illness annually which contribute to significant human and economic cost. Pharmacists serving in a public health capacity are positioned to provide first aid level intervention to people experiencing a mental health crisis. Research on pharmacy professionals (pharmacists, technicians, students) undergoing training in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) can provide evidence of the potential benefits of such training. The objectives of this study were to 1) describe the reluctance and confidence to intervene in mental health crises of pharmacy professionals previously trained in MHFA, 2) describe their self-reported use of MHFA behaviors since becoming trained, and 3) describe participant open-ended feedback on their MHFA training. MATERIALS AND METHODS:An electronic survey was disseminated in May and June, 2019 using a four-email sequence to pharmacy professionals who had completed MHFA training from one of five pharmacist MHFA trainers throughout 2018. Domains included demographics, six Likert-type reluctance items, seven Likert-type confidence items for performing MHFA skills, and frequency of using a set of nine MHFA skills since being trained. Prompts collected open-ended feedback related to MHFA experiences and training. Descriptive statistics were used for scaled and multiple-choice items and a basic content analysis was performed on the open-ended items to group them into similar topics. RESULTS:Ninety-eight out of 227 participants responded to the survey yielding a response rate of 44%. Participants reported high levels of disagreement to a set of reluctance items for intervening and overall high levels of confidence in performing a range of MHFA skills. Participant self-reported use of a set of MHFA skills ranged from 19% to 82% since being trained in MHFA. Almost half (44%) of participants had asked someone if they were considering suicide. A majority (61%) also had referred someone to resources because of a mental health crisis. Open-ended responses included positive experiences alongside important challenges to using MHFA in practice and recommendations including additional training focused on the pharmacy setting. CONCLUSIONS:Pharmacy professionals in this evaluation reported little reluctance and high confidence related to using MHFA training and reported use of MHFA skills since being trained.

Project description:BackgroundThe effects of problem gambling are wide-ranging, affecting many aspects of health and negatively impacting the person who gambles, their family and friends, and their community. People experiencing problem gambling have low rates of help-seeking and perceive many barriers to treatment, although evidence suggests that encouragement and support from friends and family can increase rates of help-seeking. Mental Health First Aid Australia's Conversations About Gambling course aims to teach members of the public evidence-based strategies for recognising and responding to signs of problem gambling in a person they know.MethodsThis research evaluated the effects of the Conversations About Gambling course on participants' knowledge, confidence, stigmatising attitudes, intended helping behaviour and actual helping behaviour towards a person experiencing problem gambling. Participants from Australia completed surveys before the course, immediately after the course and six months later. Changes over time (pre-course to post-course, and pre-course to 6-month follow-up) were assessed with linear mixed models. Descriptive statistics and content analyses of open-ended questions pertaining to participants' satisfaction with the course were also produced.ResultsBetween 2018 and 2020, 166 participants were recruited into this study. At 6-month follow-up 87 participants (52.4%) provided data. Participants' knowledge about gambling and gambling problems, confidence, desire for social distance and intentions to help a person experiencing problem gambling significantly improved from pre-course to post-course, and from pre-course to 6-month follow-up. The quality of some actions taken to support a person they knew who was experiencing problem gambling also improved from pre-course to 6-month follow-up, in line with the teachings of the course. Participants perceived the course to be highly acceptable.ConclusionsThe results of this initial evaluation of Mental Health First Aid Australia's Conversations About Gambling course suggest that it is an effective and acceptable educational intervention for those who wish to support a person experiencing problem gambling.

Dataset Information

Youth mental health first aid: a description of the program and an initial evaluation.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Trial registration

Publications

Youth mental health first aid: a description of the program and an initial evaluation.

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