Journal article

Mental health first aid responses of the public: Results from an Australian national survey

AF Jorm, KA Blewitt, KM Griffiths, BA Kitchener, RA Parslow

BMC Psychiatry | Published : 2005

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of mental disorders is so high that members of the public will commonly have contact with someone affected. How they respond to that person (the mental health first aid response) may affect outcomes. However, there is no information on what members of the public might do in such circumstances. Methods: In a national survey of 3998 Australian adults, respondents were presented with one of four case vignettes and asked what they would do if that person was someone they had known for a long time and cared about. There were four types of vignette: depression, depression with suicidal thoughts, early schizophrenia, and chronic schizophrenia. Verbatim responses to the op..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This study is part of the Australia-Japan Partnership, which is an agreement between the governments of the two countries for joint projects in areas of health. Funding for the survey was provided by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, a National Health and Medical Research Council Program Grant, and "beyondblue: the national depression initiative". We thank Helen Christensen for her role in the study.