Is your mental health first aid programme still working?
You trained mental health first aiders. The question now is whether the programme is still alive, or whether it has quietly drifted. This guide for HR and people leaders covers why a one-off course is not a programme, what a working one looks like and how to revive one that has gone quiet.
A Mental Health First Aider’s certification lasts three years. After three years it lapses and, without a refresher, the skills and the role lapse with it. Many organisations trained a wave of first aiders during 2020 and 2021, so those certificates are now expiring. MHFA England
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The rest of the guide covers why a one-off course is not a programme, what a working programme actually looks like and how to revive one that has gone quiet. One-off, you won’t need to do this again on this device.
Why a one-off course is not a programme
Training a group of first aiders feels like the finish line. It is the start line. Once the course is over, a programme left to run on its own tends to thin out quietly, and the gaps rarely show up until someone needs help and there is no one to turn to.
Certificates that have lapsed
A certification lasts three years, then it expires. If you trained a wave of first aiders in 2020 or 2021, a number of them are no longer certified, and some may not realise it. On paper you still have a team. In practice the cover has shrunk without anyone deciding it should.
A role nobody defined
Many first aiders finish the course unsure what they are actually meant to do, how far the role goes and where it stops. An unclear remit means the role gets used inconsistently, or not at all. People trained to help end up unsure whether helping is even part of their job.
An independent workplace study, the MENTOR study, found Mental Health First Aid training reliably raised confidence, with 88% of employees surveyed reporting increased confidence, and got more people talking. It also recommended strengthening the boundaries of the first aider role, the part that makes the training stick. MENTOR study, IOSH and University of Nottingham
The most common failure is silence. People go on the course, return to their day job, and hear nothing about the role afterwards. No check-in, no peer contact, no reminder that they are part of something. Add coverage gaps across sites and shifts, where whole locations or whole night teams have no first aider at all, and a programme that looked healthy on day one can be barely functioning a year later.
What a working programme looks like
A programme that holds up is not just more training. It is structure around the people you have already trained. The same study pointed at what makes the difference: a clear role, support and the conditions for first aiders to actually use their skills.
A clear, bounded role
First aiders know exactly what the role is and, just as importantly, what it is not. It is a first response, signposting and support, not a clinical or counselling role. When the boundaries are clear, people use the role with confidence instead of avoiding it.
Coverage, cadence and support
Cover is mapped across every location and shift, so help exists wherever and whenever people work. A refresher cadence keeps certificates current. Peer support and supervision keep first aiders connected, and clear signposting routes mean they always know where to send someone next.
How to revive a programme that has gone quiet
If your programme has drifted, you do not need to start from scratch. You need to find out what you still have, fill the gaps and give the role the structure it never got. These four steps take a programme from dormant back to working.
Audit who is still certified
Start with the facts. List everyone you have ever trained, check the date on each certification, and see who is still in date. A certificate lasts three years, so anyone trained more than three years ago is very likely lapsed. This tells you what you actually have, rather than what you think you have.
- Map current first aiders against sites, teams and shifts to see where the real gaps are.
- Flag anyone whose certificate dates from 2020 or 2021. Those are the ones expiring now.
Top up the numbers where coverage is thin
Where the audit shows gaps, train new first aiders to fill them. The aim is not a headline number, it is real cover in the places and times people actually work, so no site and no shift is left without anyone to turn to.
- Prioritise locations and shifts that currently have no certified first aider at all.
- Pick volunteers who are well placed to be approachable and visible day to day, not just available.
Refresh lapsed first aiders
People whose certification has expired do not have to repeat the full course. A refresher route brings them back up to date and re-certifies them, recovering experienced first aiders you have already invested in rather than losing them.
- Build the refresher into a three-year cadence so certificates never silently lapse again.
- Lapsed first aiders can re-certify through the Mental Health First Aid Refresher rather than start again.
Give the role structure and visibility
This is the step that the MENTOR study points straight at. Confidence and conversations come from the training. The role only delivers when it has a clear remit, support behind it and enough visibility that people know who the first aiders are and how to reach them.
- Set up peer support and supervision so first aiders are never left to carry it alone.
- Publish who the first aiders are and clear signposting routes, so the role is easy to find and easy to use.
MHFA England offers ongoing support through the Association of Mental Health First Aiders, including a support app, quarterly webinars and a refresher route. The infrastructure to keep first aiders connected and current is there. A working programme plugs into it rather than leaving people on their own once the course is over.
Train, refresh and sustain your mental health first aiders
Our Mental Health First Aid course is two days, MHFA England accredited, onsite or online for up to 16 people. It gives your first aiders the skills to spot the early signs, have a structured compassionate conversation, signpost to support and respond calmly in a crisis. Lapsed first aiders can re-certify through the Mental Health First Aid Refresher.
Enquire about Mental Health First Aid