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Background:Mental Health First Aid, an important component of metal health educational programs, targets naive community members, public, allied mental health personnel, and mental health experts with specific reference as to how these trained aiders should help people in crisis or with mental health conditions in the community.Objective:This study aimed to describe pre-to-post-test assessment of those who were trained in MHFA program.Setting: National Center for Mental Health Promotion, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Methods:Trained mental health professionals organized MHFA courses (n=35) for training self-selected, nonrandomized community members (n=862) who were assessed pre-to-post training by using an adapted 17-item questionnaire for measuring the impact of MHFA course on their mental health knowledge, perception, attitude and practice.Results: The participants’ responses to questionnaire were varied at pre-and post-test evaluation and 65% of them showed mild to significant positive changes in their responses, and the rest were not affected positively after this course, possibly attributed to multiple factors related tonaïve community trainees, advanced questionnaire, short timeline and dissimilar instructors.Conclusion: Although all participants well received the MHFA courses, 65% of participants’ pre-to-post-test responses improved positively. The preliminary results of this studyarenot generalizable to the whole community,need to be cautiously interpreted and this research is calling for more studies especially randomized controlledtrials in future.
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Mobile application-based delivery of mental health awareness programs may help in reducing the knowledge gap in mental healthcare in India. Apps can be used to educate our community about mental health first aid protocols. Apps have shown effectiveness in high-income settings, but they suffer from lack of applicability in low resource scenarios due to challenges of availability of apps in local vernaculars and digital illiteracy. We wanted to determine the potential of technology usage in mental healthcare awareness. We also wanted to explore the acceptability and willingness of caregivers in using mobile based mental health apps.METHODSA cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted in outpatient setting of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Raipur, in which a semi structured questionnaire was provided electronically to collect data. A total of 120 participants, including 60 caregivers of mentally ill patients and rest 60 caregivers of patients suffering from diseases other than mental illness were included in the study. All 120 participants were included for data calculation. Data obtained was analysed statistically, using Cross Tab Analysis which includes chi-square and Cramer’s V with the help of SPSS (16th) version.RESULTSOut of 120 participants, 85 (70.83%) use smart phone with internet facility. 34 (28.33%) participants already use internet as their primary source of health-related information. 42 (35%) cases and 30 (25%) controls were keen to learn about Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) protocols. Those who had a mentally ill patient in their family were more likely to use a MHFA learning App (Pearson chi square = 11.528; df = 4; p = 0.02 < 0.05; Cramer’s V = 0.031; p= >0.021). There was no significant difference in both the groups’ eagerness to help their loved ones after learning MHFA protocols. Lack of knowledge and awareness and unavailability of an appropriate app were significant barriers.CONCLUSIONSThe study looks into the scope and limitations of implementing a mobile technology-based intervention for low resource setting. Handholding of caregivers and frequent encouragement from treating doctors might significantly help in technology adoption and in surmounting the apprehension related to using technology. The scope of delivering mental health services through technology is immense.