Mental Health is Your Business!

www.mhfaengland.org

UK businesses are losing over £1000 a year for every person they employ because of mental ill health in their workforces.

The total cost to businesses UK wide is £25.9 billion a year.

Employees are taking 70 million days sick leave a year because of mental health problems such as stress, anxiety and depression.

£15.1 billion of this total cost if from reduced productivity in people who continue to work while unwell.

What is ‘mental
health first aid’?

Mental health first aid (MHFA) is the help given to someone experiencing a mental health problem before professional help is obtained.

MHFA does not teach people to be therapists. However, it does teach people how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial help and how to guide a person towards appropriate professional help.

The aims of MHFA are:

to preserve life where a person may be a danger to themselves or others
to provide help to prevent a mental health problem developing into a more serious state
to raise awareness of mentla health issues in the community
to promote the recovery of good mental health
to provide comfort to a person experiencing a mental health problem
to reduce stigma and discrimination

More course dates coming soon

MHFA is a two-day, certificated course that is part of a national programme (see www.mhfaengland.org for further information). Participants learn how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety disorders and psychosis. They also gain the skills they need to provide appropriate initial help/support to those experiencing poor mental health and to guide the person towards appropriate professional help/additional support.

MHFA is ideally suited to line managers and personnel practitioners across all business sectors, together with support workers or, indeed, any frontline health worker who currently has no professional mental health qualification. However, given that more than 1 in 4 people in the UK experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives, this training would also be useful to any individuals wishing to use these skills in their every day lives, be it within or outside their work environment.

On completion of the two days, successful participants receive a course handbook and certificate.

Please also be aware that this course is quite intensive — particularly the first afternoon session on depression and suicide. If you or family members/close friends have had any lived experience in this area, it may raise issues for you. However, this course is not about resolving personal issues — so it is important to consider this carefully before committing yourself.

For more information, please email Aly Anderson at Cam-mind:
development@cam-mind.org.uk or call 01223 311320.

Cam-mind is now offering MHFA

Cam-mind is one of the first organisations locally to offer the new, national, certificated Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) course.

Our qualified instructors are Aly Anderson and Bev Woolmer who have been working in partnership with Cambridgeshire Community Services and Peterborough & Fenland Mind locally to deliver the two day programme.

The course is suitable for members of the public and employees working in any sector — in fact anyone interested in learning more about mental health, the symptoms of common mental health problems, the skills needed to support someone experiencing mental distress — and to guide them towards appropriate professional help.

We are able to offer individual places on open courses — or bespoke courses for larger groups.

For more information on courses and instructors in the Cambridge area please contact us

Cam-mind will also be one of the first organisations in Cambridgeshire to offer a new Youth Mental Health First Aid (Youth MHFA) course specifically designed for people who work with or are caring for young people aged 11 to 18.

Milestone for MHFA

Cam-mind's Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructors delivered our tenth course in May 2010, bringing the number of people we have trained to more than 100 over the past year

The two-day certificated course has been delivered in-house to Cam-mind's own staff and volunteers but also to representatives from a wide range of other organisations ranging from local authorities, NHS trusts and various charities to housing associations and colleges as well as members of the public.

“It has been great to have reached such a wide range of people with MHFA,” says Cam-mind instructor Aly Anderson. “We have received really positive feedback so far, with many attendees reporting a considerable increase in their understanding of mental health issues and in their confidence in supporting someone experiencing mental distress.”

“Our aim now is to build on that success and to reach even greater spectrum of people and employers over the next year.”

Mental Health First Aid is a national training programme and equips participants with the skills they need to recognise the symptoms of common mental health problems, provide initial help to someone experiencing mental distress and guide them towards appropriate professional help. On completion of the course, participants receive both a course handbook and certificate.

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