Trial reportBMC psychiatry2018
Effectiveness of eLearning and blended modes of delivery of Mental Health First Aid training in the workplace: randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC psychiatry, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mental health first aid training and assessment for healthcare professionals and medical nursing students: a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Mental Health First Aid as a tool for improving mental health and well-being.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Evidence for the effectiveness of interventions to reduce mental health related stigma in the workplace: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions to improve return to work in depressed people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Long-term effects of Youth Mental Health First Aid training: randomized controlled trial with 3-year follow-up.BMC psychiatry · 2020Trial
- Evaluation of the Older Person Mental Health First Aid Course: Effects on Knowledge, Stigmatizing Attitudes, and Helping Behaviors.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2026Article
- Validation of the Mental Health First Aid Knowledge Questionnaire for use among Chinese non-mental health nurses.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Article
- Improving support for people with mental health problems in China: a cluster randomised controlled trial of culturally adapted Mental Health First Aid training.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Article
- HSN-helping in mental distress: a new emotion focused psychological first aid program.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Effects of Mental Health e-Learning on the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Primary Healthcare Professionals in Mali. A Pilot Study.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Mental Health First Aid Training for Allied Health Clinical Educators: A Pre- and Post-Evaluation.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2024Article
- Coach-Supported Versus Self-guided Digital Training Course for a Problem-solving Psychological Intervention for Nonspecialists: Protocol for a Pre-Post Nested Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Interventions to reduce the stigma of mental health at work: a narrative review.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2023Review
- Depression literacy and misconceptions scale (DepSter): a new two-factorial tool for measuring beliefs about depression.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- The Effectiveness of Online Mental Health First Aid Training in Community Rugby: A Mixed-Methods Approach.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Developing knowledge-based psychotherapeutic competencies in non-specialist providers: A pre-post study with a nested randomised controlled trial of a coach-supported versus self-guided digital training course for a problem-solving psychological intervention in India.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- Counting on U training to enhance trusting relationships and mental health literacy among business advisors: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- Mental Health First Aid training and assessment in Australian medical, nursing and pharmacy curricula: a national perspective using content analysis.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Leave Me Alone With Your Symptoms! Social Exclusion at the Workplace Mediates the Relationship of Employee's Mental Illness and Sick Leave.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of the WorkplaceAid study was to compare the effects of eLearning or blended (eLearning plus face-to-face course delivery) Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses on public servants' knowledge, stigmatising attitudes, confidence in providing support and intentions to provide support to a person with depression or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
methodsA randomized controlled trial was carried out with 608 Australian public servants. Participants were randomly assigned to complete an eLearning MHFA course, a blended MHFA course or Red Cross eLearning Provide First Aid (PFA) (the control). The effects of the interventions were evaluated using online questionnaires pre- and post-training. The questionnaires centred around vignettes describing a person meeting the criteria for depression or PTSD. Primary outcomes were mental health first aid knowledge and desire for social distance. Secondary outcomes were recognition of mental health problems, beliefs about treatment, helping intentions and confidence and personal stigma. Feedback on the usefulness of the courses was also collected.
resultsBoth the eLearning MHFA and blended MHFA courses had positive effects compared to PFA eLearning on mental health first aid knowledge, desire for social distance, beliefs about professional treatments, intentions and confidence in helping a person and personal stigma towards a person with depression or PTSD. There were very small non-significant differences between the eLearning MHFA and blended MHFA courses on these outcome measures. However, users were more likely to highly rate the blended MHFA course in terms of usefulness, amount learned and intentions to recommend the course to others.
conclusionsThe blended MHFA course was only minimally more effective than eLearning MHFA in improving knowledge and attitudes. However, course satisfaction ratings were higher from participants in the blended MHFA course, potentially leading to greater benefits in the future. Longer-term follow-up is needed to explore this.
trial registrationACTRN12614000623695 registered on 13/06/2015 (prospectively registered).
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.