Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) Support Service
accessible via the Employee Assistance Programme
Life & Progress as a proactive Intermediary works with several mainstream EAP service providers, working partnerships that have been grown and developed over many years to bring to the SME market affordable access to high-quality Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and related employee support services.
Whilst the EAP service provider works hard to ensure that those using the EAP service have a good customer experience and receive the appropriate support, Life & Progress will provide additional value by-way of but not limited to strategic account management, bespoke promotional materials, and ongoing administration.
Furthermore, and under the Life & Progress umbrella of EAP provision, we provide clients with additional inclusive features. Depending on the clients’ needs we can put together a package of supporting services with the EAP as the platform for supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
One such key feature for example, is our Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA) Support Service. A specific service embedded within the Life & Progress EAP, accessed through the same EAP freephone number. It’s important to remember that MHFA England courses do not teach people to be Counsellors, and equally do not teach people how to diagnose a mental health condition or provide ongoing support for a mental health condition. Instead, the MHFA role is to act as an initial point of contact and as a reassurance for a person who may be experiencing a mental health issue or emotional distress.
Maintaining appropriate boundaries is a key part of successfully providing Mental Health First Aid whilst at the same time keeping the Mental Health First Aider safe and well. Support is vital to successfully embed MHFA England training into an organisation, and to allow Mental Health First Aiders to perform their role safely and effectively.
Whilst the delivery and explanation of the MHFA course encourages organisational, team and colleague support, the consensus was that we wanted to go further and provide an “In the Moment” service specific to the many teams of Mental Health First Aiders amongst our customer base.
As such, in conjunction with one of the leading EAP service provides, namely Care First (Part of the Priory Group) we can now offer an in the moment support service. The support offered, is not counselling or supervision but rather a one-off standalone session managed by a qualified and professionally accredited Counsellor. They will provide a support in the moment call in which the Mental Health First Aider can speak in confidence about particularly challenging or upsetting conversation with someone who has required their support.
The intention of this specific support service is to assist the Mental Health First Aider to “manage” the often difficult and potentially distressing conversations they may have and to enable them to maintain the role safely and responsibly as outlined by MHFA England, the call will help to process any distressing thoughts and feelings arising from the work and reduce the impact on the Mental Health First Aider of the conversations they may have with those they are supporting.
If the problem is unfamiliar or complex or perhaps the employee is resisting the opportunity to seek help – the Mental Health First Aider may find it useful to talk to the EAP. The EAP can discuss the wider implications and likely effects and explore options for appropriate ways to support them in the moment.
To find out more about the Life & Progress EAP and the Mental Health First Aiders Support Service, please call our sales desk 0808 164 3941 or email service@lifeandprogress.co.uk
If you would like to talk to us about putting together a bespoke EAP package specific to your organisational needs, then equally please call us to look at possible options.
E&OE. Sept 2021. Source: Care First/Life & Progress
