Mental illness is defined as “a diagnosable illness which affects a person’s thinking, emotional state and behaviour, and disrupts the person’s ability to work, carry out normal daily activities, and engage in satisfying relationships”.

Learn Practical First Aid Skills

The Mental Health First Aid programme certifies participants as mental health first aiders in the workplace. Participants do not become qualified to diagnose and treat mental illness; however they are provided with practical information about key mental illnesses so they can identify risks in the workplace, and provide assistance if someone is experiencing a mental health issue.

The Mental Health First Aid course offers a first aid process for non-crisis intervention which can be applied to someone experiencing any of the following:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Psychosis
• The effects of an alcohol or substance use problem.

The Mental Health First Aid course also provides a process for dealing with crisis situations aligned to the above four categories. These crises include:
• Suicidal thoughts, feelings or behaviours
• Panic attacks
• Severe psychotic episodes
• Traumatic events
• High levels of intoxication (sometimes with aggressive behaviour).

Become a Mental Health First Aider

The Mental Health First Aid course is a highly interactive programme with DVDs, workshop exercises, group discussions and informative material content.

Key Outcomes from Training

• Improved confidence and skill when dealing with mental health issues in the workplace
• A greater awareness of mental health and reduced stigma about mental illness
• Better promotion of mental health in the workplace;
• Your business now has access to a group of passionate subject matter experts (the mental health first aiders) who can be “go-to” contacts for any employees who are struggling with stress overload or the emergence of a mental health problem
• A nationally recognised certificate qualification as a Mental Health First Aider, provided by Mental Health First Aid Australia
• Participants also receive a Mental Health First Aid manual

Learn more about the course and HSE Global here

Fully Online MHFA:

• Participants will need a MHFA Manual, and a number of MHFA resources, all of which HSE Global will manage and send to them;
• This course involves 5-7 hours of self-paced eLearning, that the participants undertake at their own pace, prior to the facilitator led sessions. We recommend allowing 3-4 weeks for this eLearning, assuming people are doing it during work hours, and are still doing their normal work duties;
• The eLearning has 5 modules: an introduction to Mental Health in Australia, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders (mainly Depression and Bipolar Disorder), Psychosis, and Substance Use Problems. This is done through a combination of online reading, listening to online audio, and watching videos. Participants are asked questions throughout each module, and they have to type in their answers. Each module takes about an hour, and can be saved at any time, so participants don’t have to ‘complete it or lose it’. There is also a pre and post Quiz;
• The facilitator led virtual sessions involve 2 x 2.5 hour online sessions, using Zoom (or similar). This goes over the material covered in the eLearning, but also delves deeper into the suicide section, and a few others. It also goes into self-care quite significantly. Those 2 x 2.5 hour sessions have two breaks of about 10 minutes each in them.
• After the facilitator led sessions, each participant will get a link to complete an online exam and feedback. This process gets them accredited as Mental Health First Aiders for 3 years;
• For you to note: the 2 x 2.5 hour sessions cannot be done on the same day. Also, participants need to complete the eLearning prior to attending the facilitator led sessions, or they can’t be allowed to join. For this reason, we typically give people a cut-off date of 2 days prior to the first facilitator led session;

For the course, participants will need the following:

• To be able to attend the facilitated sessions from a quiet, confidential space – we will be talking about sensitive topics;
• To only have one person per computer/laptop (not iPhones);
• To have good internet connectivity and bandwidth – we will be watching some videos;
• Participants have to attend all of the session (s) in order to pass the course.

Register for the course here;