Reflecting on 2019: How MHFA™ India Trained 600+ Professionals and Transformed Workplace Mindsets

At MHFA™ India our aim always remains constant to develop a mentally healthy community one workplace at a time. 2019 was no different. Our organization remained responsive, and by continuously responding to the ever-growing need for mental health awareness and first aid support in different professional contexts, we took our vision of creating safe, inclusive, mentally supportive workplaces into different organizational settings.  

MHFA™ India partnered with organizations from all sectors to disseminate practical, evidence-based, Mental Health First Aid training directly to their teams.  

In the last six months of 2019 alone, we trained over 600 people including leaders, managers and employees from a range of organizations (and honestly, it's only mere coincidence that a few of those organizational situations included, retail banking institutions; pharmaceutical companies; IT firms; and manufacturing units). The different sectors highlight the universality of workplace mental health needs; as well as the need for a common lexicon and practical strategies to intervene for someone who may be struggling. 

Every Mental Health First Aid program was customized to meet the unique workplace culture and challenges of the organization. Leaders were trained to do more than recognize signs of mental distress within their teams, but to consider that individual situation and provide empathetic support under pressure and to do so without judgement; a notion that can downplayed in the chaos of workplace niceties, but nonetheless needed in workplaces filled with try hard pressures. 

One of the biggest highlights of 2019 was the growing recognition among employers that mental health is not solely a personal issue but a more collective issue with implications for productivity, engagement and retention. Our sessions enabled a mindset shift which transformed stigma to understanding, and silence to supportive conversations. The feedback we received from participants who expressed genuine changes not only in knowledge but in attitude and behaviour was something that we would celebrate with them.  

We do not simply exist outside of training. We maintained contact with our MHFAiders through refresher sessions, newsletters and community meetings to ensure they felt supported in their role and could continue to apply their training. The ripple effect of these trained MHFAiders has already started with inquiries from workplaces to offer customized sessions and make mental health support part of a more overarching wellness plan.