Learner Mental Health & Wellbeing
Ballyfermot Training Centre
Caroline Duggan, Ballyfermot Training Centre
Training for staff - An offering of high-quality, ongoing professional development so your staff feel confident in responding to learners' needs.
Feedback from staff was the main source of needs assessment for this initiative. However, there is also a formal element as the applicant states later in the application that they will be using the Learner Support survey also to measure mental health, so this is an option to inform needs into the future too.
This initiative follows a strong planning process. The applicant linked in with an existing offering of the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) programme from CDU, and added Mental Health and well-being to their Learner Support Team as a stand-alone subgroup with responsibility for the initiative. The roll-out of information etc. was also considered and planned and budget decided for the MHFA room, which is a room where Mental Health First Aiders can meet learners.
This initiative has been implemented as planned, with plans for next steps. Any issues identified were resolved (e.g. the process for sharing information) and they are following process best practice such as process maps for implementation of support. They continuously reiterate that the support is for learners/trainees.
This initiative was evaluated based on verbal feedback, but the plan is to use the Learner Support survey data for 2024.
