Why I don't like [only] Mental Health First Aid in the workplace

I continue to see workplaces touting they offer employees the ability to be certified in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). MHFA is a wonderful program that brings education and awareness to everyone on how to help someone struggling with a mental health concern.

The issue I see is when employers use this program to check that box and say they have addressed mental health in the workplace. Mental Health First Aid by itself is NOT enough, but it is certainly a start. Senior leadership has a role in creating a culture that supports mental health as well, and cannot just rely on employees to foster that culture by themselves through this program alone. When I work with corporate clients interested in implementing something like a Mental Health First Aid program, I ask the following questions:

• Assuming employees will become more open with each other about their struggles as a result of this program, what will you do if an employee demonstrates self-harming behaviors, suicidal thoughts, or is at risk of harming other employees? What is the company's responsibility in this situation? How will your HRBPs, Employee Relations Team, and Corporate Security Teams respond to these situations?
• Will senior leaders be attending these trainings as well? How will this value be role modeled in the organization as a priority at all levels?
• What is the goal of implementing this program? For some employers, this is a great way to bring awareness and break stigma around mental health, and MHFA demonstrates that through their extensive peer-reviewed studies. But if the goal is to reduce occupational burnout, we need to think BIGGER.

Furthermore, I think it is important to acknowledge some of the limitations of MHFA in a workplace setting

• How do we normalize mental health symptoms beyond diagnoses? Everyone likes to have labels for things, but we also need to recognize that a diagnosis begins with symptoms, which most people have experienced in some way, shape, or form. What about occupational issues like burnout and imposter syndrome?
• The length of Mental Health First Aid is often a big barrier for individuals wishing to attend. MHFA is usually an 8 hour training. In the corporate world, this is A LOT of time to expect from employees to take away from their day. In the past, I have also experimented with splitting it into 4 hour sessions with mixed success - this usually results in some employees missing one half of the training due to scheduling conflicts.
• MHFA programs are not necessarily customized for the organization itself. This can cause issues when addressing crises in the way MHFA teaches versus what HR and other departments have written in policy. This can also be a missed opportunity for employees to learn more about other mental health benefits and resources they already have available to them and can spread the word to others.
• MHFA focuses a lot of training time around addressing crises, which can be very important in a dire situation. But what if we created a culture that was more preventative, that helps you spot and help people BEFORE the crisis?

"Okay, so what do you suggest instead?" I hear you saying.

An integrated peer support program.

Peer support programs offer more than just assistance with mental health. They offer community, which is something that has been slowly drifting away in the workplace, especially after the pandemic. In a seminal work by Dr. Christina Maslach, the world's leading researcher on occupational burnout, she cites 6 key organizational factors that contribute to occupational burnout in employees, one of which is having a sense of community and belonging in the workplace.

A recent call from the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, stated the "physical health consequences of poor or insufficient connection include a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Additionally, lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60%." Wow!

While MHFA can teach how to talk about mental health, I find that the world is so much broader than that. Not everyone is ready to talk about mental health, but they do want to talk to other people and feel like they are a part of a group. Often times, these can look like Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) in the workplace, but can be far more informal. I've seen employees create community slack channels for any common interest you can imagine!

What does an integrated peer support program look like?

1. It goes through all relevant company and HR policies around crisis situations for employees and aligns it with the peer support training for employees. Often times, we find many new policies and protocols need to be created so that everyone is on the same page.
2. It provides education for employees on existing benefits and other resources that may be helpful to other employees. Any onboarding specialist can tell you the knowledge retention of a new employee is very limited giving the vast amount of information and the fact they are probably thinking more about starting their new job, not the benefits they will have access to. These should be repeated over and over again, and who better to hear it from than employees themselves?!
3. It teaches the basics of listening (which is a lot harder than it looks!), and less on diagnosis. Listening is such a valuable skill as a human being, and I have also seen it to be of great value to current and future people managers.
4. It provides ongoing education, like MHFA certification, to those employees who have the time and ability to dedicate to learning and training more intensely in different areas of mental health support.
5. It builds a community of people within an organization who genuinely care about its people are not afraid to step up and be there when they can help. It empowers your people to create the culture they want to have.
6. Lastly, it shows your people that you genuinely care about their well-being. Gallup has found in many studies that when employees feel cared about, they are 5 times more likely to be engaged at work. And when employees are engaged, they are more productive, which ultimately feeds the bottom line. Its a no-brainer win-win.

Dr. Candice Schaefer is a board-certified licensed clinical psychologist, burnout coach, and organizational consultant. To learn more about working with Dr. Schaefer, head over to www.candiceschaefer.com