The kettle's on. ☕

You've trained your Workplace Mental Health First Aiders. What happens now?

From my experience it seems like many newly trained Mental Health First Aiders, can wonder; “So… what do I actually do with this now?”

One of the things I like to encourage businesses is to think about is how the Mental Health First Aider role fits within the workplace.

That might mean:

☕ Clearly defining what the role is, and importantly, what it isn't.

☕ Giving Mental Health First Aiders a clear position within your workplace and your existing wellbeing or psychosocial risk approach.

☕ Developing a simple policy and procedure that outlines the role, responsibilities, boundaries and confidentiality considerations.

☕ Making sure employees know who their Mental Health First Aiders are and how they can access them - just like with physical first aid.

☕ Connecting the role with existing support pathways, such as EAPs, HR, managers and external services.

☕ Checking in with your Mental Health First Aiders regularly, rather than training them and leaving them to it.

☕ Thinking about refresher training, ongoing support and how you keep the role visible within your workplace.

Putting some structure around the role helps businesses get more value from their investment in Mental Health First Aid, turning training into an ongoing workplace capability rather than something that simply sits on a certificate once the course is finished. Every workplace is different, so it's not necessarily about creating another big program or adding layers of paperwork. Sometimes it's simply about putting a little more structure around something you've already invested in. If you've already trained Mental Health First Aiders, or you're considering doing so and would like to talk through what implementation could look like in your workplace, I'd be happy to have a chat.