Mental Health First Aid training course

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an internationally recognised training course which teaches people how to spot the signs and symptoms of mental ill health and provide help on a first aid basis.

University of Northampton Provider of Mental Health First Aid England Training certificate

Since November 2017, the University’s MHFA team have been busy enhancing Mental Health and Wellbeing awareness to the UON and wider community.

They have supported training of over 300 UON staff, ensured all BSc Nursing Students complete the 2 day MHFA First Aider course (around 350 each year) and delivered the half day MHFA Awareness course to 400 Professional Nurse Advocates, students in physiotherapy, education and psychology and delivered training to  several local businesses, schools and sporting organisations including NTFC and NCCC.

We have 16 MHFA instructors and have been recognised as an example of excellent MHFA delivery by MHFA England. In addition, we have also run a number of half-day MH Awareness sessions for the University of Northampton’s staff giving them a confidence to offer support someone in distress or who may be experiencing a mental health issue.

Mental Health First Aid training courses

We offer a variety of training courses to fit your training needs:

The UONMHFA online shop continues to provide public access to the half day MHFA Awareness Course to the general public from January 2022.

Book your place

or email us for more information: UONMHFA@northampton.ac.uk

Achievements

The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) team won the national Inside Out award (March, 2021). Held virtually, the event celebrated mental health and those who champion it. Judges commended the University for its “three-pronged approach covering students, staff and the community as mental health first aid has been used very effectively to raise awareness and promote conversation about mental health.”

The Team has been awarded the Health and Wellbeing Changemaker of the Year for the team who is making a positive social impact to benefit health and wellbeing in communities.

The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) team has also been nominated for the nationally recognised award of ‘Teaching Innovation of the Year at the Student Nursing Times Awards 2020.

The team have also delivered nationally to RCN, BUPA and BMI and advised on how to implement MHFA into their organisations, it’s so much more than just delivery of the course, it is vital to promote culture change and psychological safety.

The MHFA Team at the University of Northampton been working with a variety of education, sports and business teams on the importance of Well Being empowering them to take responsibility for their wellbeing and to support others. We are working with NTFC and have started to train some of their staff  and supporting embedding MHFA into their organisation. We have also delivered nationally to RCN/BUPA and advised on how to implement MHFA into their organisations, it’s so much more than just delivery of the course, it is vital to promote culture change and psychological safety.

Testimonials

We have had excellent feedback from our deliveries. We have presented nationally with MHFA England to share our UONMHFA story and advise on MHFA delivery and ongoing psychological safety. We are also in the process of a partnership MHFA audit with MHFA England and several community sports project with MHFA England:

“Really good course led and delivered really well. Really interesting and important topics done sensitively but at the same time, in enough depth and detail to give us the knowledge to support people going through issues. Would thoroughly recommend it to people, especially those that work in the sporting world with young people.” Pete Stephenson, Academy Education Lead.

“Useful tool to have and use in your personal life and work base environment.”

“A really interesting course that has certainly opened my eyes around the importance of looking after my own mental health and that of our staff. It has helped me to understand how we can spot the signs of deteriorating mental health and has equipped me with the tools to more confidently act to support and signpost. I would highly recommend this course to others.” Phillip Smith, CEO, NTFC Community Trust.

“I will use my awareness in my role. I will implement the stress bucket with colleagues.”

‘We highly recommend this course – 9 team members attended the 2 day training with MHFA and thoroughly enjoyed it. They all agree it gave them a foundation of knowledge to be able to take away and we are now excited to use this to develop our own strategy to support mental health in our workplace. The two instructors were both very knowledgeable, down to earth, true experts in their field that made everyone feel comfortable to open up. We have more people coming to us who are keen to go through the training with the feedback the have received.’ Emma Welch, Group HR Director, Ocee Design

“I have a better understanding of stress in the workplace and promoting well being.”

“The UONMHFA team have helped to develop a robust Wellbeing culture to promote a whole university and community  approach to  MH awareness using MHFA to provide a robust evidence base.” Fionuala Bonner, COO, MHFA England

“This course has helped me to really think about how to manage my own well being/mental health in order to support others with theirs, particularly in the teaching profession.”

“Mental health stigma and poor psychosocial literacy in our population kills people on a daily basis. Mental health FirstAid provides a clear framework and structure to understand where we set individually and how we can begin to understand where others sit on the spectrum of mental disorder and mental well-being , enabling learners to access appropriate help. It provides the beginning of a toolkit to consider how we can all have personal well-being plans and link to assets within ourselves, others and our communities connecting with Action for Happiness and 10 Keys to Happier Living. Having attended on-line training I would strongly endorse this opportunity and suggest it should be promoted widely to aid population well-being especially in the workplace.” Dr David Smart, Clinical Director Prevention and Mental Health, General Practice Alliance

Contact

For more information, contact the UONMHFA team by email: UONMHFA@northampton.ac.uk.

Follow us on Twitter @UONMHFA

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