What is Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)?

There’s no denying that the coronavirus pandemic has changed working life for many people in the UK. Many companies, including Facebook, HSBC and Facebook, have already announced a more flexible routine such as three-days-in-the-office and two-days-from-home.1

Covid also shone a light on the importance of employers supporting their employees’ mental health. Research has shown that 60% of adults and 68% of young people said their mental health had worsened during lockdown.2 Perhaps unsurprisingly, a further study found that 37% of professionals reported that stress-related absence had increased in the last year.3

With 55% of workers stating that they would seek a new job if their employer didn’t support their mental wellbeing, and 57% saying a supportive mental wellbeing policy would increase the chances of them joining a new company4, now is the perfect time to focus on your staff’s wellbeing with Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training.

What is Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)?

Mental Health First Aid is an internationally recognised education and training programme, introduced by the Department of Health in 2007. Their vision is to improve the mental health of the nation.

The MHFA website states, ‘we want our training to create an unshakable belief that we can all talk freely about mental health and seek support when we need it.”5 Their mission is to train one in ten people in mental health awareness and skills.

Online MHFA First Aid Training with Joyful Living

Here at Joyful Living, we are proud to run an online Mental Health First Aid course that is approved by the Royal Society for Public Health.

Led by our experienced MHFA England-approved instructors, the course is delivered through a mixture of live sessions (via an integrated learning platform) and self-study designed to help managers and employees:

• Recognise the symptoms of mental health
• Provide initial help to others in need
• Guide to appropriate professional help
• Learn to look after your own mental wellbeing

The course is user-friendly, convenient, and will enable your company to implement government guidelines by building strong employee mental health support procedures.

You can find out more about changing company culture with our Mental Health First Aid course

Plus, you can browse our entire library of online services here.

References

1.  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/21/research-working-from-home
2. https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/5929/the-mental-health-emergency_a4_final.pdf
3. https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/health-and-well-being-2020-report_tcm18-73967.pdf
4. https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/news/articles/increase-in-mental-health-related-sickness-absence-during-lockdown#gref
5. https://mhfaengland.org/