Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is listed in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. The program also teaches the common risk factors and warning signs of specific types of illnesses like anxiety, depression, substance use, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and schizophrenia. Participants are introduced to local mental health resources, national organizations, support groups, and online tools for mental health and addictions treatment and support.

After reading a clinical vignette that describes a person with either Schizophrenia or Major Depression, participants are asked "How confident do you feel in helping this person?"

Possible responses are on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 = Not at all confident and 5 = Extremely confident

Personal and Perceived Stigma Scale. It is a 14-item measure that assesses stigmatizing attitudes. Questions are on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 = Strongly Agree and 5 = Strongly Disagree with scores ranging from 14 to 70. A higher score indicates greater stigma

A clinical vignette, describing either a case with Schizophrenia or Major Depression, is presented. Participants are asked questions about social stigma, which assesses what participants' perceptions of people in their community, and personal stigma, which assesses the participants' personal beliefs.

Semi-structured interviews are conducted with participants either over the telephone, in-person at their church or at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The purpose of the interview is to get examples of how participants utilized the skills in Mental Health First Aid training, what action items they completed, and how the training could be improved for use among other communities