Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)

What is MHFA training?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a global training program that equips people with the tools and awareness necessary to support both their own mental health and that of their colleagues, and encourages them to access timely further help when needed.

MHFA courses do not provide therapy or counselling in themselves, and do not teach people to be therapists or counsellors.

Instead, they prepare attendees to be a point of contact and reassurance for a person who may be experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress.

What can you expect from MHFA training?

Why does MHFA training matter?

Return on Investment

On average, businesses receive a return on investment of £5 for every £1 spent on mental health initiatives.

Shocking!

During 2020, poor health cost UK businesses approximately £45 billion.
This includes costs from absenteeism, presenteeism and staff turnover.

Supporting Wellbeing

69% of UK line managers say that supporting employee wellbeing is a core skill, but only 13% have received mental health training.

Business in the Community, 2019

High Costs

Poor mental health among employees costs UK employers £42bn – £45bn each year.

Impact of the Pandemic

A total of 1 in 4 adults and more than 1 in 6 young people experienced mental distress for the first time during the pandemic.

Over the past decade it has become increasingly apparent that mental health is a major public health issue, with an impact on both business and personal lives rivalling that of physical injury and sickness.

This has been further exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown.

Mental Health First Aid training first came to England in 2007, when the National Institute of Mental Health in England (NIMHE) developed and launched the programme as part of a national approach to improve public mental health.

A renewed commitment to Mental Health First Aid has more recently been made by the UK government, with the Public Health Executive (PHE) working in conjunction with MHFA England to develop a major public education programme.

Unlike some other approaches, MHFA training is evidence based, with its effectiveness evaluated by academic research.

What's more, we don't just talk-the-talk with respect to MHFA. Within our own company, we've made sure that every single one of our consultants have themselves been trained as a qualified Mental Health First Aider.

In addition to directly benefiting employees, the provision of such support offers an excellent return-on-investment (ROI) in terms of mitigating against a number of significant business risks:

How can we help you with MHFA training?

As fully accredited MHFA England Instructor Members, we run regularly scheduled public courses to equip staff with the skills and understanding necessary to support the mental health of both themselves and their colleagues within the workplace, and so qualify them as certified Mental Health First Aiders.

Courses are available at a number of levels:

  • 2-day Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)
  • 1-day MHFA Champion
  • ½-day Mental Health Aware
  • ½-day MHFA Refresher

Our public MHFA courses are bookable by individual delegates from multiple organisations, which means they are a cost-effective solution should you only need to train a few members of staff. To maximise flexibility, they are available in both online and classroom formats.

Alternatively, should you need larger numbers trained we can deliver on-demand private courses solely for your organisation. These sessions can be delivered online, at your choice of venue, or at our in-house training suite. Please contact us if you'd like to discuss these options.

When are our next public MHFA courses?

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