Mental health first aid training for the Chinese community in Melbourne, Australia: effects on knowledge about and attitudes toward people with mental illness

Respondents were 108 participants of three MHFA training workshops for the Chinese community in Melbourne conducted by a qualified MHFA trainer. Participants completed the research questionnaire prior to the commencement of the training (pre-test) and at its completion (post-test). The questionnaires assessed participants' ability to recognize a mental disorder (depression and schizophrenia) described in the vignettes, knowledge about the professional help and treatment, and negative attitudes towards people with mental illness.Between pre- and post-test there was significant improvement in the recognition of mental disorders, beliefs about treatment became more concordant with health professionals, and negative attitudes reduced.The MHFA training course for general members of the Chinese community in Melbourne produced significant positive change in the level of mental health literacy and reductions in stigmatizing attitudes. The evidence from this study, together with the accumulated evidence of the benefits of MHFA training in the general Australian community, suggests that this approach should be scaled up to a level where it can have an impact on the whole of the Chinese community in Australia.General community members often have some knowledge about handling common physical health problems, whereas knowledge about mental health problems is much less well developed [1]. The prevalence of mental disorders, however, is so high that virtually everyone in the community can be expected to either develop a mental disorder themselves or to have close contact with someone who does [2,3]. Studies on mental health literacy have found that in a number of countries, the general public have poor recognition of mental disorders and beliefs about treatments that often diverge from those of health professionals [4-6]. Finally, there is a widespread stigma on mental disorders which causes an additional burden on sufferers."Mental health literacy" refers to knowledge and beliefs