Research: MENtal health first aid in The wORkplace (MENTOR): A feasibility study

This study, commissioned by IOSH the Chartered body for health and safety professionals and carried out by Nottingham University, investigates the implementation, use and utility of mental health first aiders (MHFA) in the workplace.

It considers: the extent and variability of the implementation of MHFA in organisations; the perceptions and experiences of key stakeholders regarding the active ingredients of MHFA; how the impact of MHFA might best be measured from the perspective of stakeholders; makes recommendations as to the content and delivery of the intervention in the workplace, and how it could best address the mental health needs of employees.

Key findings

• MHFA is one of a number of training programmes to raise awareness of mental health issues in the workplace, but seems to be the most widely used.
• The majority of respondents were largely positive about MHFA. However, several areas were identified which merit further attention, namely: the use of training by organisations as a way of demonstrating that they were taking mental health seriously; inadequate operationalisation of boundaries for the trained person; concerns around the lack of supporting evidence for MHFA.
• Focus should also be centred on whether and how the impact of MHFA on end users can be measured and recorded.
• Without further research and evaluation into the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MHFA training, it cannot be ascertained whether MHFA is the best means of addressing and managing mental health issues in the workplace.