This November, the young people’s team at the McPin Foundation took part in a youth mental health first aid (MHFA) course. Here’s why we think everyone working in youth involvement should complete it.
Rachel Kimberley Temple
When we are working with children and young people with lived experience of mental health issues, it goes without saying that we must consider support and safeguarding measures.
This November, the young people’s team at the McPin Foundation took part in a youth mental health first aid (MHFA) course. It is recommended that the course is completed every three years.
Based on our learnings, here’s why we think that everyone working in youth involvement should complete the MHFA course.
The course has been co-designed by young people
Young people have contributed to the latest version of the youth mental health first aid course, officially giving it their seal of approval. This gives us confidence that the methods developed are effective and acceptable for those who it intends to affect – young people themselves!
The course includes materials co-developed with young people, such as videos and quotes that summarise challenges faced by young people; for example, the unique impact of social media (both positive and negative) and other relevant things in a young person’s life for first aiders to be aware of. The content is tailored to the modern lives of young people and uses language that is acceptable to them.
The course provoked a conversation amongst our team about what we are already doing well and how we can improve our procedures to keep young people safe.
It supplements existing internal policies and procedures for safeguarding and supporting young people
McPin has various guidance for our team when it comes to supporting young people with lived experience of mental health issues.
The guidance outlines how we get to know young people when we first work with them; identifying what their needs are, what existing support they have in place, and what we can put in place to support them whilst they work with us. We also have safeguarding policies that outline what to do when a young person is at risk of danger or harm.
The course provoked a conversation amongst our team about what we are already doing well and how we can improve our procedures to keep young people safe.
Furthermore, MHFA doesn’t just cover how to respond in crisis scenarios. It encompasses any scenario of a young person in distress, where we are first responders and our role is to interject and signpost to allow for early intervention. This is comparable to physical first aid, where scenarios requiring an intervention can vary greatly (from a cut, burn, resuscitation). All of it is useful.
It’s common to doubt oneself when supporting young people with mental health issues, asking yourself questions like 'did I forget to say anything important?', or 'did I support them sensitively enough?'.
It provides us with more confidence in how we support young people during challenging situations
It’s common to doubt oneself when supporting young people with mental health issues, asking yourself questions like ‘did I forget to say anything important?’, or ‘did I support them sensitively enough?’.
Youth mental health first aid sharpens skills such as active listening and empathy.
It helps us to recognise our role in the process and understand where boundaries lie
It can be tempting to try to do whatever we can to support someone. However, it’s important to remember where our role finishes. Not because we don’t care, but because it’s not always appropriate to stay involved.
The mental health first aid course encourages us to identify our organisational chart of where responsibilities lie, when to seek advice, and most importantly, where to signpost to qualified or other more appropriate supports, such as parents.
We also reflected on our own mental health and perspectives that may influence how we support young people. This is incredibly important for understanding how we can both support others and ourselves.
The MHFA course shares the ALGEE method, a technique which can be applied in everyday scenarios when supporting young people with their mental health.
It identifies tangible techniques for supporting young people
The MHFA course shares the ALGEE method, a technique which can be applied in everyday scenarios when supporting young people with their mental health.
The ALGEE principles are: Approach the person and assess, Listen and communicate non-judgmentally, Give support and information, Encourage the person to get appropriate professional help, Encourage other supports.
It encourages a person-centred approach
We designed case studies of young people and their individual circumstances, such as demographic information, support in place, family life. We then worked through scenarios when these individuals are in crisis or need our intervention.
We were encouraged to think about ‘what support do they have available to them that they could draw on here?’ and ‘how could this aspect of their identity pose as a barrier in them getting the support they need?’. We covered scenarios of young people in marginalised groups, such as LGBTQ+ young people, and additional support they might require.
There’s opportunity for group discussion
Doing the course as a team enabled us to consider scenarios that are unique to our own youth involvement practices and to explore them as a whole group. This included online scenarios, as we often run meetings over Zoom.
We learned about how to navigate [confidentiality] so that the trust does not break down when a young person is told that confidentiality cannot be upheld.
Learn how to approach the conversation about confidentiality
Confidentiality is so important to young people but it is not something that can be promised. We learned about how to navigate this so that the trust does not break down when a young person is told that confidentiality cannot be upheld.
Techniques included being transparent from the get-go, and to reiterate that this is in the best interests of the young person – we need to be able to escalate certain situations to keep them safe.
The course recognises young people as agents in their own mental health
The ALGEE approach encourages shared decision-making and young people to think about what they have or haven’t tried to improve their own mental health, and helps them to identify other supports that they have available to them.
This acknowledges that young people are agents in their own mental health, which we have seen through our research to be a positive thing.
Anyone who is having conversations with young people about sensitive topics like mental health and identity should feel confident they can effectively support someone if that conversation were to cause an emotional reaction.
Hanna Jones, McPin Senior Young People’s Peer Research Co-ordinator
What team members had to say
“As professionals working in youth involvement, it’s crucial that we did the youth mental health first aider course. Anyone who is having conversations with young people about sensitive topics like mental health and identity should feel confident they can effectively support someone if that conversation were to cause an emotional reaction.
“It’s our responsibility to create spaces for young people to use their lived experience in a powerful way to create change, whilst keeping them safe. This course has made me feel more confident in identifying, assessing and providing mental health support in that first instance for the young people I work with.”
Hanna Jones, McPin Senior Young People’s Peer Research Co-ordinator
“Mental health can be seen as a ‘black box’ to the extent that no-one knows what to do in a situation when you see someone in distress. This training answers the question how should you react when you see someone in pain. By using the metaphor of First Aid and directly comparing it to physical health, I think it takes some of the sense of fear and mystery out of it.
“Additionally, First Aid is something all responsible employers do and creating a mental first aid version says something about how physical health is just as important as mental health. And it says something about what we should expect from our employers.”
Femi Adekunle, McPin Senior Research and Evaluation Manager
