Mental Health First Aid is a 12-hour course designed to train people to identify signs and symptoms of mental health problems in friends and colleagues, give them the confidence to offer comfort and information to that person and direct them to proper professional help, and provide self-help coping strategies. The aim of the course is to reduce stigma attached to mental health problems and, through early intervention, prevent them developing into more serious conditions and promote recovery.

One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in any one year, and this obviously has serious implications for sickness and absence within a business context. In addition to the employer’s duty of care for the safety and health of their employees - which includes their mental health, and the fact that mental health issues are addressed within the Disability Discrimination Act - recent statistics suggest that an employee experiencing an undiagnosed mental health problem can cost a business one-and-a-half times more than if they were recovering at home.

The 12 hour course is divided into four three hour sessions and can thus be flexible enough to fit around business requirements in that it can be delivered over two days, one day a week over a fortnight or as half day sessions over a month.

Having trained Mental Health First Aiders in your organisation can help you reduce your sickness and absence, and also improve the outcomes for those who return to work, and for the business in terms of productivity and staff retention (as well as fulfilling responsibilities of the Health and Safety at Work Act and the Disabilty Discrimination Act).

If you would like to know more about the scheme and how the course can be tailored around the needs of your business, please feel free to contact Bill Cunningham (accredited MHFA England instructor) on 0845 630059.

Bill is currently Chair of Darlington & District Business Club  and a Director of BCNE  (Business Clubs North) an umbrella organisation of business networks representing over 800 businesses across the North East of England

STOP PRESS: One North Eastern Human Resources Consultancy firm, Connect HR & Recruitment Ltd , has already identified MHFA as valuable training for the workplace. Here is an extract from one of their recent articles: