Tier
Tier 1: Positive Mental Health Promotion
Program Description
The Teen Mental Health First Aid (Teen MHFA) Program is a practical, skills-based early intervention program that teaches students in Years 7-9 and 10-12 how to offer support to their peers and seek help from a trusted adult.
Teen MHFA focusses on improving the mental health literacy of a whole student cohort, to reduce the behaviours and attitudes that often prevent teens from getting the help and support they need.
The program is delivered by independent and Accredited Teen MHFA Instructors via face-to-face, classroom-based sessions.
Schools can also have a member of staff apply for and attend a 4-day face-to-face Teen MHFA Instructor Training Course, to enable them to deliver the Teen MHFA Program to students directly.
The Teen MHFA Program must be delivered to an entire cohort of students (i.e. to every student in a year level) and can only be delivered in schools where a minimum of 10 per cent of staff have been trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid.
Detailed Cost
To engage an external instructor to deliver Teen MHFA courses for your school:
$750 per classroom for delivery of 3 x face-to-face classroom-based sessions.
*All costs are GST inclusive where applicable.
Please note the Mental Health First Aid Australia are working with Victorian based Teen MHFA Instructors to deliver training at the above fixed price. To connect with an Instructor and access this fixed pricing, please email mentalhealthmenu@mhfa.com.au
To become an Accredited Teen MHFA Instructor:
Public Teen MHFA Instructor Training Course: $2,110 per person (GST not applicable)
For schools interested in training groups of 10 or 12 Teen MHFA Instructors, Private Instructor Training Courses can be requested.
Prices per participant for Private Instructor training are below, and are inclusive of GST:
$1,800 per person if the school provides the venue and training.
$2,010 per person if the venue and catering is provided by Mental Health First Aid Australia.
All Teen MHFA Instructor Training participants must have also completed a Youth MHFA course in the past 3 years.
Implementation Considerations
Target population: High school students in Years 7-12.
Program adaptability: There are two variations of the Teen MHFA Program curriculum, one for students in years 7-9 and one for students in years 10-12. Accredited MHFA Instructors have a vast range of expertise and local community knowledge they can draw on to create a meaningful and inclusive experience for participants. They also have access to supplementary course materials, that help ensure that course delivery best meets the needs of the school and participants. Instructors can also refer to and utilise Mental Health First Aid Australia Guidelines for diverse and vulnerable cohorts during the course.
Staffing: A teacher must be present in each class during training delivery. Ideally that teacher will be known to the students and trained in Youth MHFA. A student welfare officer, counsellor or youth worker should also be available at all times when Teen MHFA sessions are being run, in order to attend to the needs of any student should they become distressed.
Training requirements: The Teen MHFA course is delivered via 3 x face-to-face classroom sessions on non-consecutive days (no more than 2-weeks apart). The sessions run for 60-minutes each for Years 7-9 and 75-minutes each for Years 10-12 and must be delivered to classrooms in their usual size (i.e. classrooms cannot be joined together).
Factors to consider: Prior to delivering Teen MHFA training, 10% of school staff must first be trained in Youth MHFA which ensures that young people have access to a range of appropriately trained adults.
Australian context: Teen MHFA was developed in Australia.
Strength of Evidence
Level 4: Established evidence for program (supported by quality research evidence)
Geographic Location
State-wide
Intended Outcomes
• Reduced stigmatising attitudes
• Increased health literacy
• Increased number of adults rated as helpful for mental health problems
• Increased help-seeking behaviours
• Increased confidence to recognise and respond to mental health problems in a peer