Resilience First Aid: A strength-based approach to mental health prevention

The Journal of Applied Neurosciences is pleased to feature the Editor’s Choice article, “Resilience First Aid: Primary Prevention through a Strength-Based Peer Support Programme,” authored by Jurie G. Rossouw and Maria Ruberto. This article explores the Resilience First Aid (RFA) program, which focuses on proactive mental health strategies to build resilience and prevent crises. By combining neurobiological principles with practical, strength-based approaches, the RFA program offers tools to foster connection, support, and well-being in high-stress environments and beyond.

In this Q&A, corresponding author Jurie G. Rossouw addresses key questions about the program’s implementation, scalability, and long-term impact. The discussion provides valuable insights into how the RFA program is being applied in diverse settings and its potential to influence mental health practices. Readers are encouraged to reflect on how this work aligns with broader applications in applied neurosciences.

To provide deeper insights into the development, implementation, and impact of the Resilience First Aid program, we posed a series of key questions to the corresponding author, Jurie G. Rossouw.

1. What are the primary challenges you foresee in implementing the Resilience First Aid (RFA) program across diverse high-stress professions, such as healthcare and emergency services?

Being able to recognise that prevention is better than cure in mental health is a crucial change that’s still taking time. Some workplaces are starting to recognise this, though many are still stuck in old thinking where they mainly provide crisis services rather than focus on preventing crises in the first place. What we are building with Resilience First Aid is to give confidence in a practical approach for preventive training that can show meaningful results, and through this ideally accelerate investment to reduce the need for crisis intervention and treatment.

2. How scalable is the RFA program, and what adaptations might be necessary to make it effective in different cultural or organizational contexts?

RFA is mainly implemented through certified instructors around the world, many of whom work in unique industries. The way the program is designed is to have a structured evidence-backed curriculum, while also providing guidance on how instructors can tailor the program to their audiences. This approach helps to scale quickly and reach a range of different people who benefit from trainers who speak their language.

3. Could you provide examples of how the ALL Protocol (‘Appreciate, Listen, Lift’) has been successfully applied in real-world peer support scenarios?

What’s interesting about the ALL Protocol is that it’s very relevant to everyday life. As opposed to crisis protocols that are for rare moments, the ALL Protocol is used in conversations that we have with colleagues, friends and family in daily life. We’ve heard so many examples where it’s made a real impact, such as parents using ALL with their teenage children and for the first time feel they are building a trusting connection, through to managers using ALL with staff and creating an environment where staff actually feel heard and supported. It’s really amazing to hear all the stories and how the simplicity and practicality of ALL helps people to connect more deeply.

4. What are your thoughts on the long-term sustainability of the resilience and peer support skills gained through the RFA program? Are there plans for follow-up studies to measure these effects over time?

In a previous study with a 4-week follow-up, we found that most skills remained strong and some even increased over time. This is something we’re very interested in, and also why we provide ongoing resources that participants can access – from an app they can use to learn more each day, along with physical materials that remind participants about key concepts and spark conversations. The structure is to do a refresher training every three years, at which time participants complete another assessment so we can measure skill retention over time – this will be interesting to report on through future studies.

5. The RFA program integrates neurobiological principles. How do you see this approach influencing the future of mental health interventions in high-stress environments?

Practical neuroscience understanding is really valuable for people – the kind of knowledge where knowing how the brain works helps them to make better decisions in the moment. Especially in high-pressure workplaces like emergency services and healthcare, being able to make good decisions under pressure is necessary, and that’s where teaching people how we can use skills to focus the brain under pressure. There are so many interesting things about how the brain works, however when it comes to mental health interventions, we need to balance how much information we provide so that the neuroscience that’s taught is practically useful.

6. The study highlights a significant improvement in participants’ ability to recognise suicide risk factors. How do you envision this aspect of the program being integrated into broader suicide prevention strategies?

Prevention is the aim with RFA. This is helpful to clarify more, since many existing suicide prevention programs aim to intervene at the crisis point where someone displays suicidality. However, this crisis point is difficult to intervene at, as it assumes that someone would be around to notice what’s happening, or that the person would reach out. What we are working towards with RFA is to proactively build connection and skills in others so that we can prevent someone from reaching a crisis point in the first place, and if they do, they have stronger connections with those around them and are more likely to reach out. I believe this type of primary prevention training forms a greater part of suicide prevention strategies in the future, as it’s the way forward to really change trends.

7. The program includes access to the Driven Resilience App. How does this app complement the in-person training, and what role does technology play in maintaining resilience over time?

Many years of experience seeing programs implemented made it clear that simply training someone in a skill is not enough – they need more ongoing resources for the skills to stay alive and build neural pathways. That’s where we included the Driven Resilience App as an ongoing resource with daily prompts and short activities to keep learning after the actual workshop is complete. This also gives people access to an AI-powered resilience tutor that can help to refer to science-backed techniques when needing support. This type of technology enablement is important in a time when mental health support is not always as readily available as we’d like it to be.

8. What feedback have you received from participants regarding the most impactful aspects of the RFA training?

We’ve received great feedback on how practical and useful the training is for participants. Especially when participants come back for the second day, many already have stories about how they applied the concepts and had a great experience talking with someone, or figuring something out that helped them find a new sense of hope for the future. Quite a few people have even mentioned that it’s the best training they’ve ever done, so that is always great to hear!

9. Are there any specific areas of research you believe need further exploration to enhance the effectiveness of the RFA program?

Being able to apply these concepts in a youth setting would be particularly interesting, ideally alongside training provided to both teaching staff and parents, creating an environment that supports mental health. Being able to initiate this and monitor the impacts of such an environment over the long term would be fascinating to study. I’m also very much interested to see how this type of training could potentially be measured within the brain itself, looking towards neural wiring changes to enable a greater sense of calmness and resilience.

10. Beyond high-stress professions, do you see potential for the RFA program to be adapted for use in other settings, such as schools or community organisations?

Absolutely, we’ve already seen RFA being adopted by workplaces, schools, universities, community support agencies, and many others who see value in focusing on prevention and building a supportive environment. Especially those workplaces that like to be at the forefront of wellbeing and build a culture that keeps people engaged. Ultimately, these skills are valuable for everyone to learn, so we’re hoping to see this expand far and wide to help people connect and get the most out of life.

The Resilience First Aid program highlights the importance of shifting from reactive mental health interventions to proactive prevention. In this Q&A, Jurie G. Rossouw provides thoughtful perspectives on the program’s practical applications, its adaptability across various contexts, and its potential to create lasting change in mental health practices.

The Journal of Applied Neurosciences invites researchers to contribute to this growing field by submitting manuscripts that explore innovative approaches, practical applications, and advancements in applied neuroscience. By sharing knowledge and insights, we can continue to deepen our understanding and expand the impact of neuroscience in addressing real-world challenges.

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