TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of MHFA-based 2-h educational program for early intervention in depression among office workers
T2 - A single-arm pilot trial
AU - Kubo, Hiroaki
AU - Urata, Hiromi
AU - Katsuki, Ryoko
AU - Hirashima, Miyako
AU - Ueno, Shion
AU - Suzuki, Yuriko
AU - Fujisawa, Daisuke
AU - Hashimoto, Naoki
AU - Kobara, Keiji
AU - Cho, Tetsuji
AU - Mitsui, Toshiko
AU - Kanba, Shigenobu
AU - Otsuka, Kotaro
AU - Kato, Takahiro A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Kubo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Objective In the workplace depression and suicide are serious mental health problems. A lack of knowledge and mental health skills along with the stigma toward mental health problems often results in delays in seeking professional help. Interventions targeting not only persons with mental health problems but also people around the individual are warranted in order to encourage supporting behavior within entire workplace. In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of our newly developed educational training program in the management with depression and suicidal risk in the workplace as a single-arm pilot trial. Methods The program is a two-hour (2-h) training course for employees based on the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program which aims to increase public mental health literacy. We conducted this program at a company workplace among 91 employees, and ultimately 83 participants completed the self-rated questionnaires. Changes in confidence and practical skills in early intervention of depression and suicide-prevention, and stigma toward mental health problems were evaluated using self-rated questionnaires at 3 time-points; pre-program, immediately post-program, and 1 month after the program. Results Confidence and practical skills were significantly improved even 1 month after the program, and stigma reduced just after the program. Conclusions Our pilot study suggests that the program has a positive impact on encouraging employees to support their co-workers with mental health problems, and is applicable for busy workers due to its short duration. A single-arm design, evaluation using self-rated questionnaire and short-term follow up period are the main limitations of the present study. Hence, future research is required to validate the effects of this program with control groups, and also to assess long-term effectiveness and objective changes such as absenteeism and sick leave.
AB - Objective In the workplace depression and suicide are serious mental health problems. A lack of knowledge and mental health skills along with the stigma toward mental health problems often results in delays in seeking professional help. Interventions targeting not only persons with mental health problems but also people around the individual are warranted in order to encourage supporting behavior within entire workplace. In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of our newly developed educational training program in the management with depression and suicidal risk in the workplace as a single-arm pilot trial. Methods The program is a two-hour (2-h) training course for employees based on the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program which aims to increase public mental health literacy. We conducted this program at a company workplace among 91 employees, and ultimately 83 participants completed the self-rated questionnaires. Changes in confidence and practical skills in early intervention of depression and suicide-prevention, and stigma toward mental health problems were evaluated using self-rated questionnaires at 3 time-points; pre-program, immediately post-program, and 1 month after the program. Results Confidence and practical skills were significantly improved even 1 month after the program, and stigma reduced just after the program. Conclusions Our pilot study suggests that the program has a positive impact on encouraging employees to support their co-workers with mental health problems, and is applicable for busy workers due to its short duration. A single-arm design, evaluation using self-rated questionnaire and short-term follow up period are the main limitations of the present study. Hence, future research is required to validate the effects of this program with control groups, and also to assess long-term effectiveness and objective changes such as absenteeism and sick leave.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0208114
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0208114
M3 - Article
C2 - 30532174
AN - SCOPUS:85058076964
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 13
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 12
M1 - e0208114
ER -
