Investigating the Impact of the Mental Health First-Aid Training Course in Danish Employees

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of the study is evaluate the effect of the Mental Health First-aid training course on a Danish population of employees.

Detailed Description
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Background: Studies show a high and growing prevalence of mental disorders in the population worldwide. 25 % of the general population in Europe will during their lifetime experience symptoms related to a mental disorder. The Mental Health First Aid concept (MHFA) was founded in 2000 in Australia by Kitchener and Jorm, in order to provide the population with mental health first aid skills. Objective: The aim of the concept is, through an educational intervention (course), to increase confidence in how to help people suffering from mental health problems. Further, secondary aims are to increase the mental health literacy of the public by increasing knowledge, reduce stigma and initiate more supportive actions leading towards professional help. An investigation of the effect of MHFA offered a Danish population is needed. Design and Methods: The design is a randomized controlled superiority trial, in which 500 participants will be allocated to either the intervention group or the control group. The control group will attend the course six months later, hence waiting list design. From fall 2013 to spring 2014 participants will be educated in Mental Health First-aid following a manualized, two days MHFA course. All the participants will answer a questionnaire at base-line and at 6 months follow-up. The questionnaire is a back-translation of the questionnaire used in Australian trials. The trial will be complemented by a qualitative study, in which focus groups will be carried out. Outcome: The primary outcome measure is increased confidence in help-giving behavior among the participants. Secondary outcome will be increased knowledge of and improved positive attitudes towards people suffering from a mental health problem.

Official Title
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Effectiveness of Mental Health First-Aid Training in Denmark. A Randomized Controlled Trial With a Six-Month Follow-Up Supplemented With a Qualitative Study

Conditions
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Mental Health Impairment

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Mental Health First-aid


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: people, who in their line of work are in contact with many different individuals Exclusion Criteria: none

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Training course<br>12 hour training course in Mental Health First-aid | Other: Mental Health First-aid<br>* 2 days training course providing information on severe mental illness, in order to make people able to support in situations of crisis<br>|
| Other: Waiting list<br>Waiting list design, hence delayed offering of Mental Health First-aid | Other: Mental Health First-aid<br>* 2 days training course providing information on severe mental illness, in order to make people able to support in situations of crisis<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Increased confidence in help-giving behaviour as measured by comparing the intervention group after having attended the training course with the control group. (questionnaire) | Continuous outcome measures will be analyzed using generalized linear models and dichotomous outcome measures will be analyzed using binary logistic regression. Data will be analysed using IBM SPSS version 22. | 6 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Mental illness, training, support, Mental Health