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Experiences of instructors delivering the Mental Health First Aid training programme: a descriptive qualitative study
Author(s) -
TERRY J.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2010.01557.x
Subject(s) - mental health , mental health literacy , mental distress , medical education , nursing , qualitative research , promotion (chess) , distress , medicine , psychology , mental illness , psychiatry , psychotherapist , sociology , social science , politics , political science , law
Accessible summary• As people frequently encounter others in mental distress, there is a need for appropriate knowledge and skills to provide support. Mental Health First Aid, a 12‐h mental health promotion programme was developed to address this. • There has been little research into basic mental health training programmes generally, in terms of their usefulness. The views of instructors delivering these programmes are also important, as this may provide information about the most effective way of delivering mental health training programmes to a wide audience. • In this study, instructors delivering the Mental Health First Aid programme in Wales were asked to give their views and experiences of delivering the programme. • These instructors said it was important they had the necessary skills and support to enable them to deliver the programme effectively.Abstract Mental health literacy among the public is often poor, and although people frequently encounter others experiencing mental distress in their workplace, families and communities, they may be ill‐equipped to provide appropriate support. ‘Mental Health First Aid’ (MHFA), a 12‐h mental health promotion programme seeks to address this, training people in the knowledge and skills needed to engage with someone experiencing mental health problems. Research relating to the MHFA programme has centred on course attendees, with a paucity of research surrounding the delivery of basic mental health training programmes. Understanding experiences of instructors delivering such programmes is key to the success of future delivery. This study sought to identify the views and experiences of instructors delivering the MHFA programme in Wales. Fourteen MHFA instructors participated in semi‐structured audio‐recorded interviews, with the transcripts analysed to identify key themes. This paper explores two of the identified themes namely prerequisite skills and support required by instructors. The study highlighted that because of the ensuing emotional labour experienced by instructors, universal mental health training programmes must put in place a clear infrastructure to train, support and monitor those delivering them, for programme roll‐out to be effective.