Vince - Mental Health First Aid Training
Vince Fletcher has worked with the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) since 1988. He was employed originally as a prison officer before being promoted to first line manager, training manager and SPS Choose Life co-ordinator. He was one of the first instructors trained in Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid (SMHFA) and has delivered over 30 courses. Here, he describes why he believes it is important:
I first came across this training after the SPS had been part of the SMHFA pilot project. As a Choose Life co-ordinator, I was looking for innovative ideas to reduce suicide, self harm and raise awareness of positive mental health in the SPS. The pilot course had been evaluated and the results clearly showed the need within prisons to understand mental ill health better, and react quickly if someone was becoming ill. One of the examples used in the evaluation came from a prison officer in Perth who had done the course:
“As a personal officer, I had been working with this particular prisoner for several months. I had noticed at times he had become very down and used to shut himself away, which was out of character for him. After attending the course I felt more confident to approach and discuss with him the way his mood sometimes changed.
“He suffered from bipolar disorder and was on medication, but found it difficult to explain the changes in mood, especially to officers who just never understood. He explained he did feel suicidal at times, especially when his mood was at its lowest, although he never wanted to die. He just locked himself away until he could get help from a nurse. He had also been placed on Governor’s report for not working several times.”
The officer introduced the ‘traffic light’ procedure to him. If the prisoner is having a green day then everything is fine and he goes to work as normal. If his mood starts to change, he moves on to orange, is allowed the day off without punishment and the officer will spend some supportive time with him. If the mood changes to red the officer will get medical help straight away. This seems to work and the prisoner gets the help required at the right time without him feeling embarrassed or humiliated.
This example had a great affect on me. If one officer reacted this way, what would the effect be if all prison officers attended the course? I organised and funded for myself and two other staff to become instructors in SMHFA and to roll out the course in the SPS. The demand for places on the course has been overwhelming, but I have managed to get another ten Instructors trained and we will be delivering many more courses next year.
As well as training prison officers we also train life coaches. Life coaches are ex-offenders who provide support for very vulnerable prisoners on liberation. Several weeks after attending the SMHFA course one of the life coaches was standing on a platform at Central Station in Glasgow. He saw a woman acting strangely. She seemed very agitated, taking a step back and forward looking like she was getting ready to run towards the platform. He felt confident enough after attending the course to stand in front of her and ask her if she was okay. She just stared back in shock. He then asked her if she was thinking about jumping in front of the train, at which point she burst into tears and collapsed on the ground. The life coach alerted the police, an ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital for the help she needed, but could not ask for.
Without this intervention she might have become another suicide statistic. This course gives people the confidence to take action or talk to a person they are worried about. One in four of us will experience a mental health problem in our lives, so it stands to reason that we will be exposed to someone with problems or have problems ourselves – in our working or personal life.
The stigma attached to mental health problems makes it difficult to talk about. Where would you go if you were depressed or started hearing voices – to your partner, friend, doctor or colleague? It’s even harder if you are in prison. This course goes a long way in tackling stigma and giving people the information that can change attitudes and behaviour – and save lives.
To find out more about Scotland's Mental Health First Aid and other training, visit our Training and Learning section.
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