- Tier: Tier 1: Positive mental health promotion
- Category of intervention: Mental health literacy
- Strength of evidence: Level 4: Established evidence for program (supported by quality research evidence)
- Geographic location: Only available for delivery in the Central Highlands and Wimmera South-West department areas.
Program description
Youth Mental Health First Aid (Youth MHFA) is designed for adults who work, live, or care for adolescents. The course teaches secondary school staff to assist students aged 12–18 years who are:
- developing a mental health problem
- experiencing a worsening mental health problem
- in a mental health crisis.
Intended outcomes
- Increased staff knowledge and recognition of mental health problems in students
- Increased staff mental health literacy
- Increased staff confidence in responding in a crisis
- Reduced stigma and increased support for young people with mental health problems
- Positive changes in attitudes toward students with mental health problems
Program details
| Target audience | Secondary school staff – capacity building |
|---|---|
| Program provider | Ballarat Community Health |
| Delivery mode |
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Implementation considerations
- Target population: Youth MHFA targets secondary school staff who support secondary school students aged 12–18 years.
- Program adaptability: As an evidence-based course, Youth Mental Health First Aid has set content however examples could be tailored to local context.
- Staffing: Backfilling/time release may be required for teaching staff to attend training (including self-paced learning).
- Training requirements: Youth MHFA is a 14-hour course, delivered via 2 face-to-face sessions. This program can be delivered in shorter sessions based on local needs, following the completion of self-paced learning modules. Requirements include IT and internet connectivity for facilitator to plug in own laptop, access to large screen, appropriately sized venue, and catering for the facilitator.
- Factors to consider: A minimum number of 10 participants and maximum number of 25 participants is required to run a Youth MHFA course. 15–20 participants in a face-to-face training session is ideal. The Youth MHFA course accreditation lasts for 3 years. After this time, participants are strongly encouraged to renew their accreditation through a 4-hour 'Refresher' course.
- Australian context: This program has been developed and applied in Australia.
Cost
Minimum cost
$2,000+
Detailed cost
The total cost of the Youth Mental Health First Aid training is $413.42 per person, which includes:
- the YMHFA training (either face-to-face or blended online delivery)
- a training manual.
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