Mental Health First Aid International
This Mental Health First Aid Program is being adapted and rolled out by a number of countries.
Download further information about adapting the Adult MHFA Program for another country (PDF)
Download further information about adapting the Youth MHFA Program for another country (PDF)
A Memorandum of Understanding needs to be signed before the MHFA Program is taken to another country. Download the MoU for other countries
Mental Health First Aid Scotland
http://www.healthscotland.com/smhfa/
The Scottish government has adopted the Mental Health First Aid Program as part of “Choose Life, A National Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent Suicide in Scotland”. In 2003, Betty travelled to Scotland to train instructors as part of a pilot of MHFA in Scotland. An independent evaluation of this pilot reported favourably on the training course. A decision was then taken by the Scottish government to “tartanize” the course and roll it out nationally. In October 2004, Betty participated in a training course in Edinburgh to establish 6 Trainers of MHFA Instructors in Scotland. The Scottish MHFA (SMHFA) Program was launched nationally on 20 June 2005. SMHFA is being rolled out across Scotland by NHS Health Scotland, as part of the work of the Scottish Executive’s national programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being. It is planned to train 300 SMHFA Instructors to achieve a 2008 target of 40,000 people in Scotland completing the 12-hour course.
The SMHFA course is poised to be piloted in England, Wales and Ireland in 2006. Already SMHFA has trained 15 new Instructors in Ireland who will deliver the course in a Cross Border Initiative allowing people in both the Republic and Northern Ireland to get SMHFA. A similar pilot is planned in Wales over the coming year. This will involve having the SMHFA Manual and all materials translated into Welsh to ensure the course is accessible to everyone. So, in a very short time SMHFA will have rolled out across the United Kingdom and Ireland. The first National SMHFA Network event is planned for June 2006 with the aim to bring as many of the Instructors together.
Scotland's first National Networking Day for Instructors - June 27th 2006 Program PDF (516 K)
Mental Health First Aid Hong Kong
http://www.mhahk.org.hk/
The Mental Health Association of Hong Kong brought Betty Kitchener over in March 2004 and September 2005 to train a large team of MHFA Instructors in Hong Kong. The association is now preparing a Chinese version of the manual.
The Kwai Hospital in Hong Kong also conducts MHFA two courses per year for its staff.
Mental Health First Aid Canada
Mental Health First Aid Canada is continuing to sweep across the country, championed by the Alberta Mental Health Board (www.amhb.ab.ca).
Since the MHFA program was introduced in Canada in October 2006, over one hundred instructors teach the course in communities ranging from larger metropolitan centres to smaller rural locations. Over 1,500 people from coast to coast have completed the 12-hour course in Canada.
Betty Kitchener has made three trips to the country, beginning with an initial visit to Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta to train 20 instructors in the Australian version of MHFA in March 2006. In November 2006, she visited again and trained two master facilitators. Additionally, the first group of MHFA Canada instructors was trained in the Canadian version of MHFA.
On her third visit in November 2007 she presented at a MHFA web seminar attended by more than two hundred people from across Canada (a recording of the webinar can be viewed at www.mentalhealthfirstaid.ca) and she also presented at the third annual Mental Health Research Showcase in Banff, Alberta (details can be found at www.amhb.ab.ca/showcase).
The MHFA Canada team is continuing to develop the MHFA Program for the Canadian population. Current work includes:
- Completing a second revision of the general course material and translating the material into French.
- Developing a version of the course specifically for youth.
- Offering training sessions to primary and secondary school staff across Alberta. The Alberta Government has set a target of having one person in every school in the province trained in mental health first aid by 2009.
- Developing a comprehensive and ongoing evaluation of the program through a framework with qualitative and quantitative components, developed with input from internal and external experts.
The Alberta Mental Health Board thanks Betty Kitchener and Anthony Jorm for their ongoing advice and commitment to advancing mental health literacy.
For further information about the MHFA Canada Program, visit www.mentalhealthfirstaid.ca. Questions and comments can be e-mailed to mhfacanada@amhb.ab.ca
Mental Health First Aid Finland
The National Research & Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) (http://www.stakes.fi/english/) has been involved in bringing the MHFA Program to Finland. The Finnish Association for Mental Health (http://www.mielenterveysseura.fi/english.asp?main=English) has adapted the MHFA manual for Finnish circumstances and translated it into Finnish, with plans to do a Swedish translation later this year. An additional chapter on positive mental health and promotion of mental health has been included. In May 2006, in collaboration with Mikko Häikiö from the regional Vaasa Hospital District (www.vshp.fi), Alana Atkinson (SMHFA) and Betty Kitchener (MHFA Australia) trained the first group of Finnish MHFA Instructors.
Mental Health First Aid Singapore
The Office of Safety, Health and Environment at the National University of Singapore has provided for the first ten MHFA Instructors to be trained in Singapore in June this year. Len Kanowski will be the Trainer of Instructors taking the MHFA Program to Singapore. www.traumarecovery.com.sg/mhfa.html
Mental Health First Aid England
Mental Health First Aid England http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.csip.org.uk/ The Lewes District and Wealden MIND in East Sussex, brought Betty Kitchener over in October 2006 to train 11 MHFA Instructors. These Instructors are now helping to modify the Aussie MHFA program to be suitable for England.
The National institute for Mental Health in England aims to deliver the MHFA course within England by working in partnership with Lewes & Wealden Mind, Health Scotland and the Scottish Development Centre.
For more information contact:
Dave Belshaw, MHFA Programme Lead for England, tel 07769695716 email dave.belshaw@nimheneyh.nhs.uk
Or visit the MHFA England website: http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.csip.org.uk/