Brief Mental Health First Aid Program (bMHFA) for Parents to Improve Mental Health Literacy in Low-Income Families: A Three-Arm Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Brief Mental Health First Aid Program (bMHFA) for Parents to Improve Mental Health Literacy in Low-Income Families: A Three-Arm Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

The goal of this Randomized Controlled Trial study is to test the effectiveness of the brief Mental Health First Aid Program (bMHFA) for parents to improve Mental Health Literacy in Low-Income families. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does the brief MHFA program improve mental health literacy among parents in low-income families?
• Does the brief MHFA program improve mental well-being among children in low-income families?

Participants will be randomly assigned to two groups, intervention and control group.

• Intervention group: attend a 2-hour training program on brief MHFA
• Intervention group: complete a set of questionnaire
• Intervention group: Interviews will be conducted at 12-month follow up
• Control: no need to attend any workshop
• Control: complete a set of questionnaire

The traditional MHFA program covers many more mental disorders. Parents in the intervention group will receive a 2-hour workshop delivered by a registered nurse who has a MHFA training certificate from the Mental Health Association of Hong Kong. The first part includes an introduction that defines mental health and identifies mental health crises and symptoms, risk factors, and impacts. The second part of the workshop involves teaching parents the five key ALGEE techniques. The final part of the workshop concerns application of ALGEE in common types of mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and substance abuse. Interviews will be held after 12-month of the intervention.

While the other group (control) will just have to complete a set of questionnaire, same set also need to complete by the intervention group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• aged 18 years or above
• able to speak Cantonese and read Chinese
• parenting at least one child aged 8-13 years
• receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or have a household income less than the half of the median
• Children must be able to speak Cantonese and read Chinese

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parents and children with identified cognitive, behavioral, or mental problems will be excluded