A Controlled Trial Evaluating MindWise Leadership, a Mental Health Training Program for Managers in the Ambulance Service

MindWise Leadership is an evidence-based mental health training program for people-leaders and managers in the ambulance service, which aims to upskill people-leaders regarding employee mental health. The program was adapted from mental health training programs for workplace managers previously evaluated in randomised controlled trials (Gayed et al., 2019; Gayed et al., 2024; Milligan-Saville et al., 2017). The adaptation of this program was informed by available literature on the mental health of first responders and two-step consultation process. Initially, the program was adapted based on feedback from our industry partners at NSW Ambulance, followed by a two-hour semi-structured consultation workshop with six leaders and managers working in the NSW Ambulance service. The workshop will be delivered in-person by two experienced facilitators at NSW Ambulance. The first facilitator is a psychologist with 14 years of experience in mental health, supporting organisations to create healthy workforces through expert and professional support, wellbeing advice and education. The second facilitator is a program manager, frontline leader specialist with a Graduate Certificate in Adult Education, CERT IV in TAE, Masters in Educational Leadership, Professional Certificate in Wellbeing Science and currently completing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology. To monitor adherence, an attendance list will be taken at the workshop by facilitators. If participants do not attend, or have to leave or join part-way through the training, this will be noted. Participants will also be asked to confirm whether they attended the workshop at the beginning of their post-intervention survey. The primary training will be approximately 4-hours in duration and consists of 3- modules: • Module 1: Common Mental Illnesses • Module 2: Helping Your Employees • Module 3: Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace Module 1: Common Mental Illnesses addressed the prevalence of mental illnesses in ambulance staff, how to recognise symptoms of mental illness, the impact of stigma in the workplace, how workplaces can encourage positive mental health, and managerial responsibilities regarding mental health. Module 2: Helping your employees taught skills on recognising those at risk, providing support to employees experiencing mental illness, having a conversation about mental illness, facilitating help-seeking, supporting rehabilitation, and facilitating an employee’s return to work after mental health-related absence. Module 3: Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace focused on preventing mental ill-health by creating a mentally safe workplace, addressing psychosocial hazards, and promoting wellbeing and a positive culture through respectful managing. The training workshop is designed to be interactive to increase engagement and consisted of informative slides, video content, individual self-reflection activities, group discussions and quizzes. Gayed A, Bryan BT, LaMontagne AD, Milner A, Deady M, Calvo RA, et al. A cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate HeadCoach: an online mental health training program for workplace managers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 2019;61(7):545-51. Gayed A, Strudwick J, Kugenthiran N, LaMontagne AD, Mackinnon A, Christensen H, et al. Mental health training for physicians supervising resident physicians: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Medical Journal of Australia. 2024;221(5):270-6. Milligan-Saville JS, Tan L, Gayed A, Barnes C, Madan I, Dobson M, et al. Workplace mental health training for managers and its effect on sick leave in employees: a cluster randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2017;4(11):850-8.