Investigating Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) in the Workplace

Abstract

Background. Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) has become a popular workplace mental health intervention. Positive findings regarding MHFA trainees' mental health knowledge, confidence and intentions to provide support to someone with a mental health issue are consistent across many studies including those in the workplace. However, the impact of MHFA training on helping behaviours is questionable. There is no known previous research into the mental health and work-related outcomes of actual recipients of MHFA and very little into the impact on those trained to deliver MHFA (MHFAiders), particularly in the workplace. Methods. A preliminary qualitative study (n=10) supported the development of a further in-depth qualitative study of recipients of MHFA (n=13) and a pre / post-training controlled study of MHFAiders (total n=413) with a 3-month follow-up period. Participants were UK based employees from a media organisation. Results. Results revealed that MHFA was delivered and received for a variety of reasons, not limited to specific mental health conditions. Receiving MHFA was associated with perceived benefits in mental wellbeing, work-related outcomes (e.g., reduced absence and improved productivity) psychological capital (PsyCap), perceived organisational support (POS) and reduced emotional dissonance. Previous findings have shown no change to mental health in populations with access to MHFA, but, unlike the present research, these studies have not focused on actual recipients of MHFA. MHFAiders' confidence and intentions to provide help to someone in distress significantly improved post-training compared to the control group, as well as the amount of mental health related help given to others. No change in mental wellbeing (and most of the work-related outcomes) over time was observed for MHFAiders. Results tentatively indicated a positive impact on PsyCap, POS and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) for MHFAiders. Managers who became MHFAiders were affected differently compared to non-managers in relation to job satisfaction (negative) and productivity (positive). Employees who volunteered to become MHFAiders reported higher levels of mental wellbeing, PsyCap, POS and job satisfaction at baseline compared to the control group. Implications and conclusions. The results suggest that MHFA has potential as a workplace mental health intervention for those supported, but further research is needed to validate and elaborate on the findings given this is the first known study of recipients of MHFA. The balance of evidence to date suggests that MHFA training is not a suitable intervention for improving MHFAiders' own mental wellbeing. However, it does not appear to psychologically harm MHFAiders and there may be other work-related benefits associated with becoming a MHFAider. The results also suggest that a focus by employers on the specific risks and benefits to managers who become MHFAiders is important, as they appear to respond differently. The results imply that a self-selection approach to MHFA training may help to ensure employees who are psychologically healthy with positive attitudes become MHFAiders. Changes to the MHFA course content when delivered in the workplace are recommended to reflect the specific context and influences on mental health in the workplace.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Cary Cooper (Supervisor) & Sheena Johnson (Supervisor)