Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact of Mental Health First Aid Training on Student Pharmacist Perceptions.

Objective: To assess the longitudinal impact of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training on student pharmacists' perceptions of stigma, comfort, confidence, and willingness to intervene with someone experiencing a mental health issue over time.

Methods: Students in a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program completed MHFA training as a curricular requirement and were surveyed to gather perceptions six months after the training. Survey data was analyzed in combination with two separate surveys conducted immediately before and after the training during a previous project. Surveys included multiple validated tools for evaluating students' perceptions of mental health stigma and comfort, confidence, and willingness to intervene with someone experiencing mental health challenges. A one-way repeated measures Analysis of Variance and t-tests with the Bonferroni correction were used to analyze results.

Results: MHFA training was completed by 235 students and the six-month post-training survey was completed by 147. A significant change in scores was seen in students' ability to identify mental health concerns, suicide warning signs, provide resources for mental health and suicide prevention counseling. A significant improvement in stigma was limited over time; whereby willingness to work with a colleague who discloses a mental illness and to tell friends about their own mental illness improved immediately post training but not at six months post training.

Conclusion: MHFA had mixed longitudinal results at decreasing stigma but did impact both professional and personal views on mental health. MHFA training was most impactful in increasing student confidence assisting individuals experiencing mental health concerns and suicide prevention.