Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Can you please tell me where there is a MHFA Instructor running courses in my area?

The instructors names, contact details and locations are listed on our Mental Health First Aid Website under 'Instructors List'

Having an 'almost local' instructor will help to limit the costs of travel to and from the instructor's home base. A desirable course size is up to 20 people with one instructor. The MHFA Program at Lewes and Wealden District Mind does not employ the MHFA Instructors and therefore each MHFA Instructor has autonomy and flexibility to set their fees. We recommend modest fees on a sliding scale. However, Instructors need to be able to cover their costs. Some Instructors teach the MHFA course as part of their paid employment, and thus have a salary whilst teaching. Others conduct the MHFA course as a private business. Fees can be reduced if any of the following items are provided for the Instructors:

the venue

tea and coffee

equipment (VCR & TV, whiteboard, overhead projector (or data projector and laptop)

A fee of £300 per person could be expected.

Please contact one of our instructors after looking at the website again. Each instructor listing has a brief Instructor profile, which you can access by clicking on their name. If you have difficulties locating an available instructor we will see what we can do to assist.

Q2. What is the cost of attending the 12 hour MHFA Course?

The MHFA Program at Lewes and Wealden District Mind does not employ the MHFA Instructors that it trains and accredits and therefore each MHFA Instructor has autonomy & flexibility to set their fees. We recommend modest fees, on a sliding scale. However, Instructors need to be able to cover their costs. Some Instructors teach the MHFA course as part of their paid employment, and thus have a salary whilst teaching. Others conduct the MHFA course as a private business.

Fees can be reduced, if any of the following items are provided by your office:
the venue,
tea & coffee,
equipment (VCR & TV, whiteboard, OH projector (or data projector & laptop).

A fee of £300 per person could be expected.

Q3: Does the MHFA course teach about suicide prevention?

Suicide prevention is one of the aims of MHFA, but is not the main focus. We see MHFA as being complementary to more specialized suicide prevention training such as ASIST and recommend it to trainees as an additional course they can do.

http://www.livingworks.org.au/pages/asist.php

Q4: Are there differences between Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Psychological First Aid?

The main differences between MHFA and Psychological First Aid (PSA) as follows:

1. MHFA has a broader focus. We have defined it as follows:
“Mental health first aid is the help provided to a person developing a mental health problem or in a mental health crisis. The first aid is given until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves“.
Thus, it includes the full range of developing mental disorders and associated crises. PSA is usually solely focused on response to disasters.

2. MHFA does give some training in how to respond to a person who has experienced a traumatic event. However, this training is much less detailed than in Psychological First Aid.

3. In England Psychological First Aid is often given by people with some specialist mental health training. MHFA training is designed for non health professionals. The first aider’s role stops once appropriate professional help is reached.

Q5. When will the Adolescent version of MHFA be ready?

The Adolescent version of the MHFA Program is a new specialty MHFA course aimed to be delivered to adults who work with adolescents, in particular teachers, parents and youth workers. Development of the manual and teaching materials will be completed by the end of 2006 and evaluation and delivery of this new program will begin early 2007.

The curriculum covers the symptoms, possible causes and first aid steps for the following mental illnesses in adolescents: depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, substance use disorders, deliberate self-harm and eating disorders.

To train as an Instructor of the Adolescent MHFA course, you need to already be an accredited MHFA Instructor from the regular 5-day MHFA Instructor Training Course and successfully conducted at least 3 successsful 12-hour MHFA courses. Additional selection criteria around knowledge and experience with youth mental health problems will need to be met to then complete the 3-day specialty Adolescent Instructor Training Course.

23-Aug-2006