Talk:Mental health first aid

The original article had bias
This article has bias and almost reads as advertising. Much of the content is citing the organization directly, which has a bias to sell its training programs for financial gain. The efficacy of the training programs sold by the organization haven't been proven effective, according to a study conducted by The California Mental Health Services Authority. Sesopenko (talk) 19:48, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

Advertising masquerading as articles, requires considerable work to rewrite with neutrality
This article has sections which are advertising that's masquerading as an article. For example, the Canada section is a bullet point list of the courses offered for sale by the organization, citing the organization selling the courses. This article requires considerable work to rewrite with neutrality. Sesopenko (talk) 20:03, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

Article does not meet requirements for "high" importance for Psychology project
It is not a subject found in "most academic studies of psychology". Most experts won't be familiar with the topic, compared to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an example.

The incorrect classification within the Psychology project, along with all of the recently (within last 4 years) content added which is advertising masquerading as an article, is evidence of a lack of neutral bias in this article. It's going to take a lot of work to clean this up.Sesopenko (talk) 20:15, 7 June 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: WikiProject Medicine Winter 2023 UCF COM
— Assignment last updated by DLEMERGEBM (talk) 00:29, 27 January 2023 (UTC)

WikiProject student plan
Mental health first aid (MHFA)

As a fourth-year medical student, I am taking a course called Wikiproject and my goal is to improve this article over the next couple of weeks.

Overall, I would like to reference each statement made in this article with an appropriate quality reference, clean up general statements that are not related to MHFA development, and re-write the article to bring it closer to a neutral frame and less as an advertisement for MHFA. Additionally, the only course referenced in this article is the most popular one worldwide, but I intend to add reference to other variations of mental health first aid training.

I intend to:

1) Add a curriculum heading to outline topics generally covered in the adult and youth classes. This section is where I intend to add other providers/variations of these types of training here.

2) Rationale--this section needs more quality sources with information that is directly related to the development of MHFA. Currently these statements are written as a rationale for MHFA without attribution to relevant sources such as an interview with the primary course's authors.

3) History--add more context to this section with sources explaining the inception and development of this type of course over time, where funding is received from etc.

4) Research on mental health first aid training--update this with systematic review findings conducted in the last 5 years on the efficacy of these programs on the students and recipients of first aid mental health. This is a primary focus of my intended additions. My hope is that this will balance out the frame of this article.

5) By country--information here will be reviewed for accuracy and corrected, ie, statements about pending legislation in the US that we now know the outcome of. Also, information about which types of settings these classes are held in and who (police, university students, other types of workers) receives this training will be added here. Dsk23 (talk) 21:47, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

WikiProject Med Peer Review for Dsk23
Overall, I believe that you've done a lot of great work on this article. I agree with the point that the original article was pretty biased and had quite a bit of unnecessary information. I think that your current edits have improved the readability of the article and have reduced the biased slant of the original article. I checked the links to the citations, and they work just fine. In terms of specific feedback, I have the following:

* The Lead: The first sentence in the lead is a little confusing to read, and I had to reread it to understand what was being said. I think that it would be helpful if it was either paraphrased or broken down into smaller sentences. Also, there isn't a citation for the last sentence in the lead, which you noted. If you're comfortable, I think that it can just be deleted since it doesn't add much to the lead in my opinion.

* History and Rationale: I think these sections are short and sweet. You've improved the readability and relevance of the history section. You've also appropriately cited sentences in the rationale section as well.

* Curriculum: It was a good idea to add the curriculum section since it lets readers know what MHFA training entails. I think that you did a good job with it. The only suggestion I have is to edit it a bit because it seems to me like the topic bullets and the 5-step action plan bullets overlap a lot, so perhaps there is room to combine that information into a more condensed list.

* Research: You made good use of secondary sources for the research section, and most of them are up-to-date, which is great!

* By Country: This section is much more readable and concise, and it also no longer reads like an advertisement. It includes the sources of funding for MHFA training for these countries, which you mentioned wanting to add in your plan.

All in all, great job! PPatel224 (talk) 16:18, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Thanks so much for the detailed and helpful feedback! I did my best to address the relevant points and completely agreed with your points about the lead and curriculum when I went back to review these. Thanks again! Dsk23 (talk) 03:22, 3 February 2023 (UTC)

Major edits on 26 July 2023
The article presented on date 25 July 2023 still had bias towards the MHFA organisation and their associates, lightly promoting them. I made substantial changes to remove the promotion.

Revision notes
Dissociated the concept of mental health first aid from the companies/products/services provided by Mental Health First Aid Australia/International and their associates. Wikipedia is a repository of unbiased information and should not be used to promote products, services or organizations. Like first aid, mental health first aid is a concept, not an owned product. If it was a product owned by any specific organization, it should not have a page in Wikipedia.

Added the concept of mental health first aid at the top, as an extension of the traditional first aid concept, dissociating it from mental health first aid training, which is training on said concept.

Removed references to "MHFA". MHFA is a trademark and should not be used to reference the concept in an informational article.

Added a section on public acceptance. A few of the sources in it are not the most reliable but I used terms to emphasise ‘indication’ of public acceptance.

Minor edits on the curriculum. The curriculum of the program given by the MHFA organization compresses mental health first aid in 5 steps to fit in an acronym specific to their program. Some of these steps are, in fact, different steps in one and should be separated in an informational article. (example: “Promote self-help and additional support strategies” was divided into “Promote self-help” and “Additional support strategies”)

Removed the reference to specific providers by country. Those were all organizations associated with MHFA trying to create a monopoly in their market and promote their product in the article. Wikipedia should not be used for promotional purposes.