Noting a Landmark Achievement: Mental Health First Aid Training Reaches 1% of Australian Adults

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a training course for members of the public in how to assist someone who is developing a mental illness or in a mental health crisis situation (e.g. the person is suicidal or has had a traumatic experience). This fi rst aid is given until the person receives professional help or until the crisis resolves. The course teaches how to give mental health fi rst aid using the Action Plan shown in Table 1. MHFA began in Australia in 2001 with one part-time volunteer instructor (B.A.K.) working in partnership with a researcher (A.F.J.). From this small beginning it has expanded rapidly, so that in 2011 there are over 850 instructors in Australia who have trained over 170,000 adults. This is 1% of the adult population. Furthermore, the programme has spread internationally, starting with Scotland in 2004. Since then it has spread to Canada, China, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, USA and Wales. This rapid expansion far exceeded our expectation as the developers. Here we discuss some of the factors that have contributed to this remarkable growth.