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Welcome to Mental Health First Aid (Wales)

 

New mental health training 'for everyone'.

Front line workers in Wales often have to deal with people with experience of mental distress but lack the skills and confidence to support them appropriately.

 

With one in four of us affected by mental health problems each year, service providers across Wales are being offered a new short training course to deal more effectively with these challanges.

 

In an ambitious new project, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, Mind Cymru is training trainers to teach Mental Health First Aid throughout Wales. Mental Health First Aid was developed in Australia and is being rolled out in Scotland and Northern Ireland.  

 

The 12 hour course does not train you to be a therapist, counsellor or mental health professional. It will teach you to:

 

• give initial help to someone experiencing a mental health problem
• deal with a crisis situation or the first signs of someone developing mental ill health
• guide people towards appropriate help.

 

Who should attend?

 

The Welsh Assembly Government and Mind Cymru aim to make the 12 hour courses accessible to a wide range of groups and individuals across Wales. The programme is targeted at raising mental health awareness literacy in the general public. Some key groups of people include people who work in the ambulance service, welsh police forces and prison service, JobcentrePlus, primary health care and social care, staff in further and higher education, support workers in a variety of settings, voluntary and communtity groups, and other workplaces.

 

Course programme

 

The 12 hour course covers a number of topics including:

• what is meant by mental health/mental ill health
• the signs and symptoms of common mental health problems including depression, anxiety disorders, and psychosis
• the range of effective interventions and treatments
• how to access help and support.

 

The course delivery is very flexible and may be delivered over 2 full days or spread out over a maximum of 4 sessions over 4 days. Participants will receive a certificate of attendance and a copy of the Mental Health First Aid (Wales) Manual, which covers the course content.

 

Course aims

 

Mental Health First Aid (Wales) aims to help participants:

• preserve life where a person may be a danger to themselves or others
• provide help to prevent a mental health problem developing into a more serious state
• promote recovery of good mental health
• provide comfort to a person experiencing mental distress.

 

Mental Health First Aid (Wales) Instructors

 

The course can only be delivered by a specially selected, trained and approved person. This ensures that all Mental Health First Aid (Wales) Instructors have the required level of knowledge, skills and experience, that there is consistency in delivery across Wales and that the quality of the delivery of the course can be monitored.