Evaluation of the Health Education England working across the North West (HEE NW) Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training programme

The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) programme was commissioned by the north west team of Health Education England (HEE NW), previously known as Health Education North West, in response to a need to the increasing priority of mental health in healthcare. In 2015, the following organisations were selected to participate in the MHFA programme delivered by HEE NW: East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust; Alderhey Children's NHS Foundation Trust; Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, and NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group. Staff who undertook MHFA instructor training 12 frontline healthcare staff undertook MHFA training. Working in pairs, these staff each ran four cohorts of MHFA training with the target of 14 participants per course. The majority felt that their expectations had been met, with a good overall impression of the course. The training and resources gave staff confidence to deliver sessions. Several potential considerations for improvement were identified. Participants who undertook the MHFA programme Pre/post questionnaire: A survey was distributed to participants immediately following completion of the two day MHFA programme. This assessed what participants thought before the course and what they thought immediately after on a number of areas relating to mental health. 258 responses were received (female n = 84.1%, n = 217, mean age = 42, standard deviation = 12.1). A high proportion indicated that they felt there was a need for training in order to help staff communicate with people with mental health issues (98.4%, n = 254). Nearly all participants (98.8%, n = 255) stated that the training provided staff with the knowledge to help identify mental health issues, while 98.1% (n = 253) agreed that the MHFA training would help them in their job. Follow up survey: 98 responses were received representing 35.3% of the original sample. The majority of participants were (female n = 90.1% n = 82, mean age = 44, standard deviation = 10.2). 84% indicated the training was either useful or very useful in the work place and 79% found the training useful or very useful in their everyday life. Participants felt the course provided confidence to communicate with people with mental health issues, and knowledge to identify people with potential mental health issues