An Evaluation of Phase One of the Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) in Schools programme: “The training has given us a vocabulary to use”

Researchers from University College London evaluated the first year of the Youth MHFA in Schools programme. During the first year of the programme over 1,200 school staff attended a Youth MHFA One Day course, qualifying them as Youth MHFA Champions – someone who is skilled in understanding how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental health issues in young people and who has the confidence to guide a young person to a place of support. The study involved over 1,000 school staff and found that following the training, staff reported around a three-fold (190%) increase in confidence in knowledge, skills and awareness to support a young person struggling with their mental health. 1) Before taking Youth MHFA training, only 30% of staff reported feeling knowledgeable, skilled and aware to support a young person experiencing mental ill health. 2) After acquiring Youth MHFA skills, 59% of staff said they felt highly knowledgeable, aware and confident to support a young person. 3) This increased to 87% up to three terms later, highlighting a sustained improvement as staff put their skills into practice and had time to reflect on their training.