>> Client Engagements: Mental Health Training for Australian Federal Police

Mental Health Training for Australian Federal Police
Client
Disciplines	Training - Cognitive
Situation	As a workforce, the Australian Federal Police faced two challenges - firstly they deal with a large number of mentally ill people as part of their work. Secondly employees are in a profession which increases the risk of the employee suffering a mental illness.
Challenge	Deliver a course which provides introductory information on the common mental illnesses and skill to deal with crisis situations that may occur including suicide, psychotic episodes and panic attacks.
Response	From March 2005, O2C provided the AFP with training regarding mental health problems and related issues. Participants on the 2 Mental Health Awareness and Crisis Training package included all operational police, laterals and also a number of recruit courses through the latter half of 2006. Modelled on Mental Health First Aid, the training covered the major mental health problems within Australia (depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis and substance use disorder with a focus on the symptoms, causes, resources and treatment available for these disorders. The evaluation of this training program identified the need to conduct a one day tailored course specifically targeting Police Recruits that raised awareness of mental health issues and stress within the AFP-ACT Police. This course is delivered as part of a broader two day package on mental health and mental illness. The second day of the package provides recruits with some skills and tools to deal with people with a mental illness.
Outcome	Over 1000 police were trained by O2C with high rate of satisfaction indicated in the end of training surveys. The training was conducted for a period of nearly 3 years until a restructure of the recruit core training dictated that it was no longer required.