Positive Wellbeing started delivering Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) courses in early 2016 and over the years we have trained over 1,100+ participants. Of those participants, over 950+ participants completed feedback surveys which is an impressive response rate for surveys. Although we still are in the process of analysing the data, but we would like to share some interesting information that we have already discovered.
MHFA International has for the last 21 years provided MHFA Training courses to over 4 million participants in over 25 countries.
Shirralee, our trainer is a Licensed MHFA Instructor for MHFA (International) where she is a Principal Master Instructor. She is also an accredited MHFA Instructor for the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong, where she is a Master Instructor. The Mental Health Association of Hong Kong is the Licensed owner of MHFA courses delivered in Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China.
Our courses are currently only delivered in English, however we are working with other instructors to be in a position to deliver the training in Cantonese and Mandarin.
Looking at our data from 2016 to 2022.
Over 98% of all participants would recommend our course to others and found it very helpful.
Also, 97% of the participants stated that our instructor, Shirralee, had an engaging presentation style and demonstrated knowledge of the material presented.
The YMHFA course is a 14 hour course, usually delivered over two 7-hour days, but can be delivered over other combinations. The course covers the five areas of mental health that affect young people under the age of 24. Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Psychosis and Substances. As well as how to assess and assist in crisis situations such as suicidal thoughts and behaviours, self-injury, panic attacks and trauma.
Globally, there has been an increase in the numbers of people presenting with mental health challenges generally over the last three years. There has been significant increases in numbers of young people struggling with Eating Disorders or Psychotic. So, it is important to upskill in these areas in order to identify the early symptoms and to provide the support that young people deserve at an early stage. By young people, we are saying those up to the age of 24 as your brain is still developing.
Using a practical, evidence-based Action Plan, Mental Health First Aid courses equip people with the knowledge and skills to recognise mental health problems and to confidently provide the appropriate information and support to someone who may be developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.
In early 2021, MHFA International designed a Blended YMHFA course that consists of two components, an eLearning component and Instructor-led sessions which can either be in-person or online. Shirralee has been delivering the Blended courses online, in Hong Kong permission has been granted to allow Hong Kong International Schools to take either of the three pathways to train their staff in YMHFA, either the 14-hour In-person course, the Blended Online course or the Blended In-person course.
MHFA are internationally recognised courses and they use the Delphi model. All MHFA Guidelines are produced following a systematic way of reaching consensus in a panel of experts. The use of expert consensus is a practical alternative to randomised controlled trials, which are often not feasible or ethical for evaluating specific first aid strategies. The end result is the development of guidelines that comprise first aid actions rated as important or essential by expert panels of professionals, consumers and carers.
We would like to finish the blog by sharing some of the testimonials from the last few months. We have found the feedback from our online courses has also been very positive.
Feedback from an online course over the last month.
“Shiralee was brilliant. Engaging, informative, and she willingly shared her incredible professional insights, that I found very valuable.”
“Shirralee is a fantastic instructor and taught all aspects of the content very well. Would highly recommend.”
“Clear guidelines and expectations. Had really good content knowledge and in-depth experience. Thank you.”
“Very experienced and knowledgeable instructor.”
Feedback from In-person courses over the last few months.
“Shiralee is knowledgeable and approachable. She delivered all the content in a very organised way. It gives me clear guidance and confidence to handle certain situations.”
“Very calm and knowledgeable. Welcomes questions.”
“Good use of real life examples.”
“The course is extremely useful and should be offered to all members of staff.”
“Very useful course that gave a detailed insight into the different mental health problems and gave good advice on how to deal with them.”
If you would like to find out more about our YMHFA courses or to book a course for a group, please contact training@positivewellbeinghk.com – we offer discounts for group bookings. Our next In-person YMHFA courses are
February 21st & 22nd
March 29th & 30th
May 3rd & 4th