The effects of eLearning or blended (eLearning plus face-to-face training) mental health first aid training on public servants' knowledge, attitudes, confidence in providing support and actual supportive behaviours towards others in the workplace, as well as personal help-seeking and their own mental health.

The aim of the WorkplaceAid study was to compare the effects of eLearning or blended (eLearning plus face-to-face course delivery) Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses on public servants' knowledge, stigmatising attitudes, confidence in providing support and intentions to provide support to a person with depression or PTSD. 608 Australian public servants from Victoria and the ACT were randomly assigned to complete one of those courses. The following results are based on a comparison between data collected prior to training (at baseline) and again at post-training. Training in either the eLearning MHFA or blended MHFA stream resulted in greater improvements in mental health first aid knowledge; beliefs about appropriate treatment; intention to help a person with depression or PTSD; confidence in providing such help and the quality of help provided, as well as lower perceptions of dangerousness/unpredictability of people with depression or PTSD, compared to training in Provide First Aid. Training in the eLearning MHFA stream showed a reduction in the amount of social distance desired from a person with depression or PTSD, compared to training in Provide First Aid. The blended eLearning MHFA course was only minimally more effective than the eLearning MHFA course in improving knowledge and reducing stigmatising attitudes. Users were more likely to highly rate the blended MHFA course in terms of usefulness, amount learned and intentions to recommend the course to others.