{"id":13145,"date":"2023-07-19T14:47:50","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T19:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mentalhe180dev.wpenginepowered.com\/news\/research-shows-mhfa-works\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T08:56:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T13:56:15","slug":"research-shows-mhfa-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/research-shows-mhfa-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Shows: Mental Health First Aid Works"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>More than 4.5 million people have been trained in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). That is cause for celebration! Of course, we are thrilled that our community of First Aiders is growing. But we measure success in more than numbers.<\/p>\n<p>MHFA has one clear and simple goal: to give individuals the skills to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges and provide initial help and support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Good news \u2026 it\u2019s working!<\/p>\n<p>Over the past decade, more than 45 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/03\/2023.03.01_MHFA_Research-Summary_infographic.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">peer-reviewed studies<\/a> have documented the efficacy of MHFA among various populations across the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Studies show that individuals trained in <strong>Adult MHFA<\/strong> have:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased mental health literacy, including knowing the signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental health and substance use challenges.<\/li>\n<li>The ability to identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental health or substance use challenge.<\/li>\n<li>Increased confidence\/self-efficacy and likelihood to help an individual in distress.<\/li>\n<li>Reduced stigma and increased empathy toward individuals with mental health challenges.<\/li>\n<li>Increased likelihood to seek therapy or mental health care for themselves.<\/li>\n<li>Correct application of MHFA skills during a simulation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Individuals trained in <strong>Youth MHFA<\/strong> show similar acquisition of skills. And research shows that young people participating in <strong>teen MHFA <\/strong>trainings acquire:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased mental health literacy.<\/li>\n<li>Increased identification of helpful and harmful behaviors when assisting a person in need.<\/li>\n<li>Decreased mental health stigma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>MHFA is just one piece \u2014 but an important one \u2014 in a much larger effort to connect people in need with mental health and substance use care. While other initiatives seek to reduce the prevalence of mental illness or improve access to high-quality treatment and services, MHFA is focused on expanding people\u2019s ability to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges.\u00a0 We believe this is an essential first step \u2014 among many \u2014 toward a healthier nation.<\/p>\n<p>If you are already a First Aider \u2014 thank you for making a difference. And if you want to join us, we\u2019re ready to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/take-a-course\/\"> connect<\/a> you with a training today. We want everyone in America to have at least one First Aider in their close circle of friends, family and peers.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we are setting our sights on a new goal \u2014 training 1 in every 15 people in MHFA. Will you join us and be the difference? Hint: say YES!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 4.5 million people have been trained in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). That is cause for celebration! Of course, we are thrilled that our community of First Aiders &#8230; <a title=\"Research Shows: Mental Health First Aid Works\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.grafik.mentalhealthfirstaid.org\/es\/news\/research-shows-mhfa-works\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Research Shows: Mental Health First Aid Works\">Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":13147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[178,181],"news-type":[],"class_list":["post-13145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-mental-health","topic-mhfa-training"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Research Shows: 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