Mental Health First Aid: A Systematic Review of Trainee Behavior and Recipient Mental Health Outcomes

Forthal, Sarah; Sadowska, Karolina; Pike, Kathleen M.; Balachander, Manya; Jacobsson, Kristina; Hermosilla, Sabrina

doi:10.1176/appi.ps.202100027

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 50 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…MHFA aims to cultivate an understanding of the impact of mental illness and substance use disorders and to build common supports and skills for connecting individuals to appropriate professional, peer, social, and self-help care. A core component of MHFA is a five-step action plan represented by the acronym ALGEE that has the following steps: assess for risk of suicide or harm, listen nonjudgmentally, give reassurance and information, encourage appropriate professional help, and encourage self-help and other support strategies (Forthal et al, 2022).…”

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The longer-term effects of MHFA are not as well established given that only a few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have assessed outcomes more than six months after training (Morgan et al, 2019;Morgan et al, 2020;Svensson and Hansson, 2014). Furthermore, when studies are restricted to RCTs, a systematic review yielded mixed evidence for improvements in the use of MHFA skills (i.e., helping behaviors) (Forthal et al, 2022).…”

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also subject to limited empirical study is the resultant impact on individuals who are in distress and receive MHFA (i.e., recipients of MHFA) (Forthal et al, 2022;Wong, Collins, and Cerully, 2015). A systematic review of RCTs of MHFA (Forthal et al, 2022) identified only a single study that was sufficiently powered to examine outcomes reported by recipients. In this study, teachers received MHFA training and the high school students who were the recipients reported receiving increased mental health information but not increased help; in addition, no significant improvements in recipients' mental health were observed (Jorm et al, 2010).…”

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An estimated 9 percent of adults in New York City (NYC) had major depression in 2016, and about 20 percent are likely have a mental health challenge in any given year. Furthermore, more than 40 percent of adults with serious mental illness either experience delays accessing needed mental health treatment or never receive it at all. To address these documented unmet mental health needs, the Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health (OCMH) brought together city agencies, nonprofits, and community-based organizations in 2015 to support the mental health of all New Yorkers through 54 priority initiatives. One of these initiatives involved the provision of in-person Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) trainings, first to staff at city agencies and community-based organizations and eventually to all New Yorkers citywide-free of charge.Citywide MHFA trainings under OCMH were launched in 2016 and continued until early March 2020 when most of the city experienced shutdowns due to coronavirus pandemic safety precautions. At the time of the shutdowns, planning for a full-scale evaluation of the impact of the MHFA trainings was underway but had not yet been launched. Once the evaluation could be adjusted to current circumstances by April 2021, it resumed in the form of a mixed-methods study that included a web-based survey of past trainees and a series of focus groups to assess the impact of the MHFA trainings and needs for continued training in the future. This report describes the evaluation activities that took place; the methods behind them; and the results at the individual, agency, and community levels. It also offers recommendations for ways to improve future mental health education efforts. This study was sponsored by the Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity. Social and Behavioral Policy ProgramRAND Social and Economic Well-Being is a division of the RAND Corporation that seeks to actively improve the health and social and economic well-being of populations and communities throughout the world. This research was conducted in the Social and Behavioral Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being. The program focuses on such topics as risk factors and prevention programs, social safety net programs and other social supports, poverty, aging, disability, child and youth health and well-being, and quality of life, as well as other policy concerns that are influenced by social and behavioral actions and systems that affect wellbeing. For more information, email

show abstract

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In 2016, ThriveNYC 1 took a communitybased approach to addressing access to mental health services by launching a city-wide effort to train 250,000 New Yorkers in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) by December 2020. Although the coronavirus pandemic cut the trainings short, more than 155,000 individuals had been trained in MHFA by March 2020. Implemented in more than 25 countries, MHFA has been shown to improve trainees' mental health knowledge, reduce stigma, and enhance confidence and engagement in helping behaviors (Jorm, Kitchener, and Reavley, 2019;Forthal et al, 2022) multiple community-based organizations (CBOs), and other public venues throughout the city with the goal of transforming cultural norms and responses to mental health challenges.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016–2020 Efforts

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.is a registered trademark.Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights: This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

show abstract

Mental Health First Aid as a tool for improving mental health and well-being

Richardson,

Dale,

Robertson

et al. 2023

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows:Our primary objective is to examine mental health and well-being, mental health service usage, and adverse effects of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training on recipients of the intervention.We have three secondary objectives: 1. To examine the effects of MHFA training on recipients of the trainees' intervention, in terms of their knowledge about mental health and attitudes towards mental health problems. 2. To examine the effects of MHFA training on trainees' knowledge about mental health, attitudes towards mental health problems, number of encounters with people with mental health problems, and their own mental health and well-being.3. To examine the effects on organisations, looking at measures of absenteeism and productivity at work.

show abstract

Mental Health First Aid: A Systematic Review of Trainee Behavior and Recipient Mental Health Outcomes

Cited by 25 publications

References 50 publications

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City

Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016–2020 Efforts

Mental Health First Aid as a tool for improving mental health and well-being

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Mental Health First Aid: A Systematic Review of Trainee Behavior and Recipient Mental Health Outcomes

Cited by 25 publications

References 50 publications

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City

Evaluation of Mental Health First Aid in New York City

Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016&ndash;2020 Efforts

Mental Health First Aid as a tool for improving mental health and well-being

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016–2020 Efforts