Expanding mental health first aid training could improve wellbeing and save money, writes Sarah Bickerstaffe
When David Cameron talks about measuring national happiness it is easy to feel cynical. Is this really the time to be spending money and effort on something that in the current climate of austerity could appear trivial? And won’t it crowd out a focus on relieving suffering caused by severe mental health problems like schizophrenia? These concerns fail to recognise mental health problems as one end of a continuum that has happiness at the other end. The continuum is human wellbeing – and isn’t the point of politics and public policy to improve people’s wellbeing?
Poor mental health is estimated to cost UK employers £30bn annually. It is the largest single cause of disability and treatment costs are set to double in the next 20 years. Labour could show action on this agenda by getting behind the mental health first aid movement. Imported from Australia, it is a simple idea – mental health problems are very common but most of us do not know much about them. Mental health first aid teaches people how to spot the early signs of poor mental health, and gives them the skills and confidence to provide support to family members, friends or colleagues.
Our mental wellbeing fluctuates with the challenges we face, the resources we have, and the resilience we possess. If problems develop into enduring conditions then specialist mental health services are needed. Labour is already committed to building on the excellent work it did in government through the NHS national service frameworks and the New Horizons and Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programmes.
But with over 400,000 Britons reporting that work-related stress is making them ill it makes no sense to package mental health off as a discrete problem to be dealt with by unseen isolated services. Mental health first aid can improve the mental health literacy of the general population, building understanding in every community. It can give people the confidence to talk about mental health, not to fear it, and can prevent problems developing. At the very least it would start to reduce the stigma people face.
There are now over 650 accredited mental health first aid instructors in England who have so far delivered the two-day course to over 40,000 people. Take-up has mostly been by frontline public service professionals – NHS workers, police officers and teachers. With one in 10 children experiencing mental health problems, and very high rates among people with long-term health conditions and those in the criminal justice service, these are the right places to start. But private sector companies, including John Lewis, Mitie, Linklaters and Tata Steel, are also providing mental health first aid training to their staff and seeing increases in productivity and reductions in sickness absence.
Labour should seize this agenda and empower individuals to take positive action early, avoiding the high human and financial costs of inaction. Training people in mental health first aid could prevent problems developing, reduce discrimination, and improve the resilience of communities. In short, it could increase national happiness and save money – neither of which is trivial.
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Sarah Bickerstaffe is a former political adviser to Andy Burnham and runs a social enterprise delivering mental health first aid
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A two day course only? I would also like the breakdown of the figures for work related stress by industry and private and public sector too. I have known colleagues who suffered from stress associated with personal problems such as divorce etc. As a boss, I dealt with this based on common sense such as reducing workload, providing daily personal interviews which were not recorded, availability by telephone outside of working hours and accompanying to solicitors if required. Would the course have helped me do more?
Maybe not but you sound like you a one in a million employer.
I agree with Julie Mills. You sound like a caring & clever boss who knows that the best resource an employer has is his/her staff.
The MHFA course is aimed at those people who maybe wouldn’t have thought of doing the things that Holby18 did. It also gives you some useful ‘tools’ to help with anyone in mental crisis.
It’s important that the government take this on board, increase awareness of mental health issues and reduce the stigma attached. Financial costs are rising but look at the impact of mental health problems to families, carers and the person experiencing mental health.
Having delivered the course to many organisations I have seen the positive feedback about MHFA and the main question asked is “why doesn’t everyone attend?” It should be made compulsory for large organisations to have a Mental Health First Aider, just like “regular” First Aiders.
Great article and thank you for highlighting the increasing number of children experiencing mental health problems.
Carol Hannah
MHFA Thistle London
Yes of course, I also agree with Julie Mills. And I have to say that Mental Health First Aid is an innovative community education program that helps the community recognize, understand, and reply to signs and symptoms of mental diseases and substance use disorders.