History of Mental Health First Aid

On a dog walk with their King Charles Cavalier Tony Jorm, a mental health literacy researcher, discusses the idea of a first aid course for depression and other mental illnesses with his wife Betty Kitchener, who had experience teaching first aid courses for the Australian Red Cross. Betty had also experienced recurrent episodes of severe depression and had faced discrimination in the workplace because of mental illness. Tony and Betty decide to develop such a course in their spare time on weekends and conduct it voluntarily as a service to the Canberra community. They called the course Mental Health First Aid (MHFA).

• A tender application to ACT Health is successful, funding Betty’s salary for 18 months based at the Australian National University, Canberra.
• Betty and Tony write a MHFA manual and accompanying course, launching it in a 6 hour format in late 2000 in Canberra. A reference group guides the format of the MHFA course consisting of two mental health nurses, one psychiatrist, two teachers, one first aid instructor and three mental health consumers.

• In October, MHFA receives its first national media coverage with Norman Swan broadcasting a segment on MHFA in the Health Dimension ABC TV program.

• Ruth Jorm redesigns the MHFA logo, replacing an original ‘ying yang symbol’ designed in 2001 with a stylised flannel flower (the Mental Health Council of Australia symbol of “Mental Health Awareness”). Ruth also designs the www.mhfa.com.au website.
• The first 5 day Train-the-Instructor Course is conducted by Betty at the Australian National University to six Instructors.
• 5,000 MHFA Manuals for course participants are printed with a generous donation of $20,000 from Jennie Thomas in memory of her late husband Em Thomas who had recently died by suicide.
• The first article reporting an uncontrolled trial of MHFA is published in BMC Psychiatry finding that course participants changed their beliefs about treatment to be more like those of health professionals felt increased confidence in helping others and were more willing to help people with mental illness.

• MHFA grows to a 12 hour course based on feedback from course participants.
• Another generous donation of $22,000 from the Pivot Fertilizer Company allows 10 suitable people in rural areas to train as MHFA Instructors.
• Betty is invited to Scotland to train 13 Scottish MHFA Instructors, the first overseas partner to adopt the program.
• MHFA wins its first award, the Mental Health Promotion & Mental Illness Prevention Program Award at the National Mental Health Services (TheMHS) Conference in September.

• Very sadly, an MHFA Instructor Hollie Jackes, dies. Her family sets up a memorial scholarship and eleven people are given the opportunity to be trained as Instructors.
• The Health Priorities and Suicide Prevention Branch of the Australian Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing provides a consultancy for the MHFA manual to be written in a form that it is culturally sensitive to the Indigenous population. Len Kanowski is employed on this small consultancy. Len stays with the MHFA team until 2009 working as the Aboriginal MHFA Coordinator from 2005.
• Hong Kong adopts the program. Based on Hong Kong’s urging for the program to have a bear as a mascot, MHFA adopts a koala, called ‘ALGEE^®’ after the MHFA Action Plan acronym, as its mascot (the closest native animal in Australia to a bear).

• Len Kanowski finalises 3 culturally and linguistically modified MHFA courses for Croatian, Vietnamese and Italian communities in Australia with funding from the ACT section of the Commonwealth Department of Health & Ageing.
• In April, the MHFA Program with a team of Prof Tony Jorm, Betty Kitchener, Claire Kelly and Len Kanowski, moves from the Australian National University to operating under the auspices of the Orygen Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne.
• Claire Kelly receives the Hugh Lydiard Fellowship from Australian Rotary Health, and works with Robyn Langlands to develop the MHFA Guidelines. Leanne Northausen also joins the team as a Program Administrator, and Frank Skender, begins providing pack/mailing services to support Instructors.
• By the end of 2005, every state and territory of Australia has MHFA instructors, numbering at over 300 in total.

• In April, The Senate Select Committee on Mental Health releases its final report: “A national approach to mental health – from crisis to community” recommending that 6% of the population be trained in MHFA, targeting those with the greatest probability of coming in contact with mental health issues – teachers, police, welfare workers and family carers. They also recommend rural police and ambulance services as a high priority for MHFA training.
• A large research project continues to develop MHFA Guidelines which cover how to help people in various crisis situations, as well as the best first aid for developing mental disorders. The Guidelines are developed using systematic reviews of the scientific evidence and the consensus of panels of clinical experts, consumers and carers. Over several years, funding is sourced from Australian Rotary Health, National Health and Medical Research Centre (NHMRC), beyondblue and National Centre Prevention of Cannabis (NCPIC).
• Betty and Tony write the Edition 1 Youth MHFA Manual aimed at adults working or living with adolescents.
• MHFA continues to expand with Canada, England, Finland, and Singapore adopting the MHFA program.
• Instructors who run more than 30 courses are recognised as Master Instructors.
• The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) funds the Mental Health Council of Australia to coordinate the development of an e-learning MHFA course for helping people with mental illness in the workplace. This CD contains material from the 12-hour MHFA course as well as information about employment issues for people with mental illness.
• Funding is provided from the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant to conduct the first evaluation of the Youth MHFA course – a randomised controlled trial of a modified Youth MHFA course for high school teachers in partnership with the South Australian Dept Education and Community Services.

• The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MHFA Program is officially launched with a 5 day Train-the-Instructor course in Orange, NSW, with funding by the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) .
• The Youth MHFA Program is launched with a 3 day YMHFA Train the Instructor course for existing accredited MHFA Instructors with some funding from the Australian Dept Health and Ageing under a National Suicide Prevention Community Based Grant.
• The inaugural Vietnamese MHFA Instructor Training Course is conducted in Melbourne.
• Four Master Instructors (Gloria Claessen, Susan Goldie, Tony Hoare and Narelle Heywood), form a National MHFA Training Team to conduct the Train-the-Instructor program.
• Work begins on developing MHFA Guidelines for Indigenous Australians with some funding from the beyondblue Victorian Centre of Excellence.
• Wales adopts the MHFA program.
• The MHFA team grows with Valentina Popovska joining the MHFA team as the Standard MHFA Program Administrator (until July 12), Chris Scanlan as the first Youth MHFA Coordinator (until July 08), Kara Eddington as the Aboriginal MHFA Trainer (until October 08) and Rhys Kinsey as the Aboriginal MHFA Administrator (until July 10).

• MHFA wins its first international award at the National Council for Behavioural Healthcare Annual Conference in Boston on 2 May 2008, for excellence in Mental Health Education.
• On Australia Day, Betty Kitchener is awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her efforts in developing and disseminating MHFA.
• MHFA is introduced in Japan, New Zealand (Maaori) and the USA.
• Dr Claire Kelly takes on the role of Youth Mental Health First Aid Coordinator.

• Northern Ireland and South Africa adopt the program.
• The 1st edition Intellectual Disability Mental Health First Aid Manual is launched as a supplement to the Standard MHFA Manual.
• Professor Tony Jorm is awarded an Australia Fellowship with a component focusing on MHFA research.
• Katherine Birt joins the MHFA Team as a Youth MHFA Program Administrator.

• The 2nd edition MHFA curriculum of the Standard (formerly called Adult) and Youth courses are launched in February, based on the International MHFA Guidelines. With help from a grant from the Department of Health and Ageing, one-day Edition 2 Up-Skill (E2U) Workshops are held across Australia all year, from Broome to Alice Springs, and Townsville to Orange.

• The Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health (CRRMH) – a research centre linked to Newcastle University – based in Orange NSW, in partnership with the Greater Western Area Health Service (GWAHS), take over the delivery and maintenance of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MHFA (AMHFA) program.
• The MHFA Program is chosen as one of 10 case studies in a UK report on ‘Radical efficiency’ in action across the world. ‘Radical efficiency’ is about different, better and lower cost public services – innovation that delivers much better public outcomes for much lower cost.
• The MHFA Program is taken to Sweden, China and Nepal.
• As part of an election commitment, the Australian Government introduced the Taking Action to Tackle Suicide (TATS) package – announced in July 2010. On page 5 of this document, the ‘Mental Health First Aid Training: for Front line Community Workers’ ($6.1m) initiative is discussed. Here it mentions that funding is to be provided to train front line community workers (e.g., financial, legal and relationship counsellors, and healthcare workers), to better identify and respond to the needs of people at risk of suicide or who have attempted suicide. This initiative is part of the effort to take action to prevent suicide and boost crisis intervention services (also see page 9 of the TATS package for Table of Costings). More info here.

• beyondblue provides funding to develop a Chinese MHFA program for Chinese speaking Australians.

• Dr Laura Hart is employed as the teenMHFA Program Coordinator to develop a teen version of the program. Nataly Bovopoulos joins the team, as the Program Manager, to ensure the continuing expansion of the program in Australia and Internationally.

• In August, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MHFA Program moves back to MHFA Headquarters in Melbourne.
• MHFA reaches a 10 year milestone with over 170,000 first aiders representing 1% of the Australian adult population, having been trained and 15 other countries adapting the program for their own cultures. An editorial is published in the Australian New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry marking this landmark achievement.
• Mental Health First Aid International is established as a non profit organisation trading as Mental Health First Aid Australia, with the aim of moving the existing program into this autonomous entity by 2012.

• As part of the implementation of the Government’s 2010 Taking Action to Tackle Suicide (TATS), MHFA wins an Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) ‘MHFA for Front line Workers Initiative’ tender to tailor MHFA training to front line workers: financial counsellors, nursing and medical students, and receives a grant from DoHA to further develop the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander MHFA course.
• The existing MHFA Program moves into a not-for-profit health promotion charity ‘Mental Health First Aid Australia’, governed by a Board of Directors and with 10 staff members and sets up in a new office, still in the suburb of Parkville (Melbourne, Vic) (opposite Princes Park – see image left).
• Portugal and Saudi Arabia adopt the MHFA Program and the Standard MHFA course is adapted for New Zealand (they had already adapted our AMHFA course for Maori in New Zealand).
• The Standard MHFA Manual is culturally modified and translated into traditional and simplified Chinese for Chinese speaking Australians.
• The Annual MHFA Australia Awards are launched to showcase the achievements and commitment of those involved in delivering MHFA courses across Australia. More info here.
• Louise Woodruff Sanz and Maria Ibarra join the MHFA Admin team, AJ Williams is appointed as AMHFA Project Manager and Kathy Bond and Kathryn Chalmers are employed as research assistants. See profiles on our team members here.