Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid -- what a great idea!

Here in Norwich, in 2009, the Norwich and Central Norfolk Local MIND Association began to introduce training on behalf of the charity Mental Health First Aid England.

Mental Health First Aid England forms part of the government initatives of the Third Sector and The Big Society. Here they have introduced into this country a brilliant new concept originally from Australia. 

Like any First Aid course, "Mental Health First Aid" needs to cover to important medical issues first and foremost to ensure a First Aider responds appropriately but Norwich MIND offered a little more.

Norwich Mind included their own "Mind Associates Training Programme", an additional 6 weeks with ongoing workshops which had a greater focus on the broader ideas of Well-Being. So, along with the medical issues, personal and social issues were included and even creative solutions were also presented plus presentations from other organisations supporting different aspects of care and support, too.

Those other aspects of care and well-being are important. It might include serious issues such as eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, care responsibilties and all sorts of other things not even considered when looking only at the medical model.

But it is not all so sad. Norwich Mind have also held workshops of art therapy, nature walks and creative writing and are always seeking new and fun ways to support well-being, whether for recovery or for personal development. What a great, open-minded approach. 

Lately, Mental Health First Aid England have broadened the range of courses available and Norwich Mind is delivering the new Youth Mental Health First Aid Course, too. And, of course, Norwich Mind is also incorporating a range of follow on workshops, too.

I really rate the courses from Norwich Mind. I cannot recommend their joyful, broad minded approach highly enough! I did my course in 2009. By then, they had trained about 60 people. When I asked recently they said they had trained well over 2,000 people now!

What Fantastic Work!