Hamilton intermediate school leads commitment to youth mental health

Fairfield Intermediate, a 950-pupil Year 7 and 8 school in Hamilton, has become the first intermediate in New Zealand to have more than 10 per cent of their staff trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid Aotearoa.

On 13 June, nine staff completed a two-day Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Aotearoa workshop at the school, run by two experienced instructors.

This internationally recognised, evidence-based and evidence-informed programme equips adults with the skills, knowledge and confidence to recognise, understand and respond to a young person aged 11 to 18 experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis.

“The research shows that around one in three young people in any given year will experience a mental health challenge,” says Sarah Christensen, programme manager for Mental Health First Aid Aotearoa. “However, anecdotal evidence indicates that that number is higher, and we are seeing mental health challenges presenting earlier in young people’s lives.”

Youth MHFA Aotearoa launched last year in the South Island, then launched in the North Island this May.

To date, 32 people have been trained as Youth MHFA instructors and 314 as Youth Mental Health First Aiders in New Zealand.

Fairfield Intermediate principal Angelas Walters says that the school was excited to train staff in Youth MHFA.

“We know that early adolescence can be the most critical years in a young person’s life, as they are maturing physically and developing emotionally,” says Walters. “Our goal is to see all our students reach their full potential, and good mental health is vital to their current and future success.”

Youth MHFA Aotearoa equips staff with the skills and confidence to have a conversation with a student around their mental health, and a five-step action plan to support them.

Walters says the youth mental health programme ties in with the school’s values of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga.

“We care deeply about our students and their whānau, and Youth Mental Health First Aid training gives our staff another tool in the kete to support the wellbeing of our school community,” says Walters.

Sarah Christensen was one of the instructors teaching the Fairfield Intermediate staff in the Youth MHFA Aotearoa programme.

“It’s about making a difference in a young person’s world. If we can make a difference to someone’s mental health in their foundation years, it can help mitigate or prevent things worsening later,” says Christensen, who is an experienced mental health educator and a registered nurse with a background in paediatric and child and adolescent mental health.

Fiona Stapleton, assistant principal at Fairfield Intermediate, said she would "100 percent, absolutely" recommend Youth Mental Health First Aid to other schools and teachers.

"Having the knowledge and a framework about what to do is really helpful, because you sort of know how to do stuff, but having a really solid, evidence-based framework will give us more confidence to have conversations and be courageous in supporting our young people."

She said, with nine staff trained, it meant they had a team of people who could support each other with mental health in the school, rather than a few people "doing it in isolation".

She identified anxiety, non-suicidal self harm and suicidal thinking, eating disorders and problematic substance use as some of the key mental health challenges that teachers are seeing among youth in New Zealand.

"There is a huge rise in anxiety."

Tarsh Leaf, who is the HOD Māori for the school, says she works mostly with Māori students, and in her role is focused on providing "awhi and support" to them when in distress.

She said the Youth MHFA course had been valuable and "eye-opening" but has given her some useful tools and a framework (the ALGEE five-step action plan) to use if a student is experiencing a mental health challenge or crisis.

"The course has equipped me with the strategies to be able to help our students, to awhi them along... It has helped me identify when to approach them, how to assess what is going on."

The programme is something she hopes can be rolled out throughout New Zealand, as these are skills everyone can use, just like physical first aid

"I can use it with my students, my family, my kids and my grandchildren."

• Mental Health First Aid Aotearoa is licensed by Te Pou in New Zealand.
• To find out more about Youth Mental Health First Aid here.
• To find an instructor who can deliver the two-day Youth MHFA workshop to you, please email mhfa@tepou.co.nz or visit our Find an Instructor page.
• To become a Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor, join us for training in Christchurch from 19 to 23 August, 2024.