Current Research

Our research base makes us leaders in the field of mental health education.

Evidence-based, evidence-informed and proactively updated.

Current Research

Mental Health First Aid International always has a range of research projects underway.

Are you interested in being part of an expert panel?

Or perhaps you would like to attend a course as part of an evaluation?

Or maybe you just have a great idea that you’d like to tell us about?

You can find out more information about all of these below.

EMAIL US

Illustration of a group of people communicating around a globe

Guidelines Currently Under Development

Our guidelines are developed using the consensus of experts.

If you work in the mental health field, or are a person with lived experience of mental health problems (a consumer or carer), please send an email to participate@mhfa.com.au and let us know which project you are interested in. We can then let you know more about the project and how you can get involved.

Currently Recruiting For

We are currently recruiting participants for the following research projects. If you would like to be involved, please click below to find out more information and to see if you are eligible.

First aid for panic attacks

This project aims to update the Mental Health First Aid Australia guidelines for panic attacks, published in 2008. The guidelines will be updated using the Delphi research method, which is a systematic way of determining expert consensus. The expert participants will be people with a lived experience of panic attacks (consumers and carers) and mental health professionals and researchers. The research question is “What information and skills does a member of the public need in order to provide mental health first aid to a person experiencing a panic attack?”

Eligibility criteria

Consumers who have lived experience of one or more panic attacks, feel well enough to participate, AND are engaged in activities that give them a broader exposure to people’s experiences of panic attacks, e.g. are a member of a consumer advisory or advocacy group, provide peer support to others, etc.
Carers who have experience in caring for or providing day-to-day support to someone who has experienced one or more panic attacks AND be engaged in activities that give them a broader exposure to people’s experiences of supporting a person experiencing a panic attack, e.g. are a member of a carer advisory or advocacy group, provide peer support to others, etc.
Mental health professionals or researchers with at least 5 years’ experience in the area of panic attacks.

Participants must also be aged 18+.

First aid for alcohol and substance use problems

This project aims to update the mental health guidelines for problem alcohol use, problem drug use and problem cannabis use, first published in 2009. The guidelines will be updated using the Delphi research method, which is a systematic way of determining expert consensus. The expert participants will be people with a lived experience of problem alcohol and other drug use (consumers and affected others) and mental health professionals and researchers.

The results will be one guidelines document that covers mental health first aid actions for someone with substance use problems. We are combining the three sets of guidelines into one set because there is considerable overlap between the actions recommended in each of the guidelines and we believe this will make the guidelines more user friendly for the public. The findings will be used to inform the content of Mental Health First Aid training courses.

Eligibility criteria

Consumers who have a lived experience of problem alcohol or other drug use in themselves and consider themselves to be functioning well enough to participate, AND be engaged in activities that give them a broader exposure to people’s experiences of problem alcohol and other drug use, e.g. they are a member of a consumer advisory or advocacy group, providing peer support to others etc.
Affected others who are family members or friends who have provided significant support to a person with problem alcohol or other drug use AND are engaged in activities that give them a broader exposure to people’s experiences of supporting a person with problem substance use, e.g. a member of a carer advisory or advocacy group, providing peer support to others, etc.
Mental health professionals, educators or researchers with at least 5 years’ experience working within problem substance use settings.

Participants must also be aged 18+.

Currently Underway

The following projects are not recruiting participants, but are ongoing.

Culturally Appropriate Approach to Improving Health Outcomes

This project, led by researchers at The University of Melbourne, aims to develop and implement culturally appropriate Mental Health First Aid training programs for China, Sri Lanka and South American countries. This research is funded by the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases and the National Health and Medical Research Council. More information can be found here and here.

Have an Idea?

Have you got a terrific research idea that you’d like to tell us about? Or is your organisation doing research on Mental Health First Aid?

We’d love to hear about it.

Send your ideas to research@mhfa.com.au.

Interested in Contributing in Other Ways?

From time to time we make films and audio clips where people share their experiences. We also look for artworks created by people with a lived experience of mental health problems, or of being caregivers.

If one of the following apply to you, you may be able to contribute to Mental Health First Aid. If you are interested, please fill out our short survey and let us know how you can help.