Mental Health First Aid - Human Resources

First aid is the help given to a person who is ill or injured before professional medical treatment can be obtained. The aims of any first aid is to preserve life, to prevent further harm, to promote recovery and to provide comfort to the person who is ill or injured.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) can be applied to a person developing a mental health issue, a person experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health issue or to a person in a mental health crisis. Wider aims of MHFA are to raise awareness of mental health issues in the community and to reduce stigma and discrimination.

Role of a Queen Mary MHFAider

The role of the Mental Health First Aider is to support employees in the workplace who are experiencing mental ill health or distress. This support can vary from having a non-judgmental conversation with a colleague, through to guiding them towards the right support. The primary role of a mental health first aider is to administer mental health first aid to any person suffering with mental ill-health on Queen Mary premises with the aim of:

Preserving life where a person may be at risk of harm to themselves or others
Providing help to prevent the mental health issue from becoming more serious before professional help arrives
Promoting the recovery of good mental health
Providing comfort to a person with a mental health issue
Raising awareness of mental health issues in the community
Reducing stigma and discrimination.

Why contact a Mental Health First Aider?

Our trained mental health first aiders are here to support you if you’re struggling. Mental health first aiders have been trained to actively listen without judgment and signpost to appropriate services where necessary. You can contact somebody you know or alternatively somebody from a completely different School, Institute or Directorate if you prefer.