Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): Why & How?

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA): Why & How?

This is a quick overview of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training.

What is it?

MHFA is a standardized curriculum that provides background education about mental health topics which helps destigmatize mental illness. It also teaches participants how to assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis.

How does it work?

MHFA is an 8-hour, standardized, audience-specific, workplace training program taught by certified instructors.

Audience-specific means that there are different versions depending on your target audience; for example, there are MHFA trainings for veterans and for higher education.

MHFA includes many interactive learning opportunities (like role-playing and scenarios) that make applying the skills learned in a real-life situation easier. Participants learn the ALGEE 5-step action plan, described in the above infographic.

Anyone who is interested can become an instructor by completing the instructor training.

Why MHFA?

It’s a natural fit for libraries because it teaches participants how to provide reliable mental health information, resources, and appropriate behavioral health treatment options. This is Health Information Literacy, and this is what we do. MHFA is relevant and appropriate for all library staff, but especially for public-facing staff. And it provides a shared, educated language for coworkers, supervisors, and patrons.

In short, MHFA training can help libraries educate staff, destigmatize mental illness, and provide de-escalation techniques to better meet their community’s needs.

If you’d like to learn more about MHFA training, you can visit https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/ or email me at mary-m-thomas@uiowa.edu.