Clinical trial NCT06035770: The Effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid Intervention Among Undergraduate Students in Switzerland
Official title: The Effectiveness of Ensa - Mental Health First Aid Training on Knowledge and Mental Health of Undergraduate Students in Switzerland: a Randomised Control Trial.
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Preventative Medicine
Keywords: mental health first aid;
undergraduate students;
RCT
intervention
education program
Lead sponsor: Institut et Haute Ecole de la Santé la Source
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: HEIG-VD- Haute Ecole d'Ingénierie et de Gestion du Canton de Vaud
First posted: 2023-09-13
Enrollment: 107
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Randomized Control trial with educational intervention
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an educational training program which has been proven effective at increasing knowledge, improving attitudes and reducing the stigma of mental illness among individuals/the general population. Although MHFA has proven effective world-wide, no study has examined the effectiveness of MHFA in Switzerland and very few studies have examined the long-term effects of MHFA and how they might be influenced by cultural differences. This study is a randomized control trial (RCT) that examines the effectiveness of a 12-hour MHFA training program that aims to improve undergraduate students' knowledge of, behaviours towards mental illness and to reduce stigmatization towards mental illness. All participants were 2nd-year students and they were randomly assigned either to an intervention group that would receive the MHFA training course or to a control group without any intervention during the study period. However, the control group had the option to receive the MHFA course after the 12 months of study follow-up was completed. Both groups were assessed at three time points: T0: Baseline survey from mid-September to October 2019, completed by both groups.

Intervention: MHFA training program from October 2019-December 2019. T1: Post-intervention with first follow-up survey three months after the MHFA training intervention completed by both groups (from March to May 2020). T2: Follow-up 12 months after the MHFA/ensa training intervention in December 2020 and completed by both groups.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 2nd year undergraduate students from universities of applied science in Lausanne and Yverdon-les-Bains.
* ≥18 years old.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Working and part-time students.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Level of knowledge-(changes were assessed at 3 and 12 months)
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
measure: Level of attitudes pertaining to mental illness (changes were assessed at 3 and 12 months)
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
measure: behaviors toward mental illness (changes are assessed at 3 and 12 months))
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: mental health-quality of life (changes were assessed assessed at 3 and 12 months)
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
measure: mental health-depression (changes were assessed at 3 and 12 months)
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
measure: change of mental health-anxiety
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
measure: change of mental health-ADHD symptoms
timeFrame: 3 months; 12 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Lausanne
country: Switzerland
facility: La Source, School of Nursing Sciences, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland.
state: Vaud
Study officials:
affiliation: La Source, School of Nursing Sciences, HES-SO
name: Meichun Mohler-Kuo, Sc.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Dzemaili S, Pasquier J, Oulevey Bachmann A, Mohler-Kuo M. The Effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid Training among Undergraduate Students in Switzerland: A Randomized Control Trial. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 11;20(2):1303. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021303.