Mental Health Awareness – Care Sector

Mental Health Awareness – Care Sector

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Course Overview

Mental health does not exist separately from the rest of a person’s care needs. In health and social care settings, it sits alongside everything else, alongside dementia, alongside learning disability, alongside physical health conditions, alongside the effects of medication, alongside grief, loss, and the experience of living in a care environment rather than your own home. Staff who are only trained to see the primary diagnosis will miss what is happening with mental health. And when mental health is missed, the consequences show up as behaviour that gets labelled as challenging, as refusals of care that nobody understands, as withdrawal that looks like deterioration when it is actually distress.

A person with dementia who is also experiencing depression is not just showing further cognitive decline. A person with a learning disability who becomes agitated is not necessarily displaying a behaviour management issue. These presentations need to be understood in their full context, and that requires care workers who know what mental health looks like when it sits alongside other conditions, not just when it presents in isolation.

This is one of the most consistent and consequential gaps in care training. Teams who have covered dementia awareness and learning disability awareness separately, but who have never been given the tools to recognise how mental health intersects with both. Staff who do not know how to support someone through a mental health episode because nobody has ever shown them what good support looks like in a care setting. Not a clinical intervention or diagnosis. The everyday, moment-by-moment response that either helps a person feel safe and understood or makes things significantly worse.

This course gives care staff exactly that. Mental Health Awareness in Health and Social Care is a practical, care-specific course that covers what mental health is, how it presents in real care environments, how it sits alongside other conditions and diagnoses, and what good person-centred support looks like in practice. It supports Care Certificate Standard 9 (Awareness of Mental Health, Dementia and Learning Disability) in full, and aligns with the expectations of the Care Quality Commission, Skills for Care, NICE guideline CG123, NICE guideline NG58, and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

Course Details

• Duration: Half day (3 to 4 hours), or full day workshop option available
• Delivery: In-person at your venue, or live online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams
• Certificate: CPD-accredited certificate of achievement in Mental Health Awareness in Health and Social Care
• Refresher: Every 2 to 3 years, or sooner following significant changes in guidance, following incidents or concerns, or where changes in the service user group or staff roles warrant review
• Group size: Up to 12 learners

Who This Course Is For

This course is right for any care staff whose role involves supporting individuals who may experience mental health challenges alongside other care needs, including:

• Support workers and care assistants in residential care, supported living, and domiciliary care
• Senior carers and team leaders
• Residential and nursing home staff
• Domiciliary care workers
• Health and social care professionals working in community settings
• Managers and supervisors responsible for ensuring person-centred care planning reflects mental health needs

Why Mental Health in Care Training Matters

Mental health affects a significant proportion of people receiving health and social care in England, and it is rarely the only thing going on. Depression is estimated to affect around 40% of people living with dementia. Anxiety disorders are significantly more common in people with learning disabilities than in the general population. People living in residential care settings are at higher risk of mental health difficulties, including depression and loneliness, than those living independently. These are not edge cases. They are the population care staff who support every day.

Skills for Care is clear that the adult social care workforce needs to be equipped to recognise and respond to mental health needs across the people they support. That means understanding mental health not in isolation but in the context of the full picture of an individual’s needs, conditions, and circumstances.

Under CQC Regulation 9 (Person-Centred Care), providers must ensure that care is designed around the individual’s specific needs, preferences, and circumstances. Where mental health needs are not identified or not addressed, care cannot be genuinely person-centred. CQC inspectors look specifically at whether services recognise and respond to the full range of an individual’s needs, including emotional and psychological wellbeing.

CQC Regulation 10 (Dignity and Respect) requires that individuals are treated with dignity at all times. A care worker who responds to distress with a management strategy rather than a supportive, compassionate response is not meeting this standard. Understanding what distress looks like and why it is happening is a prerequisite for responding with dignity.

CQC Regulation 12 (Safe Care and Treatment) requires providers to protect individuals from avoidable harm. Unrecognised or mismanaged mental health conditions in care settings can lead to escalating distress, safeguarding concerns, inappropriate use of restriction, and missed deterioration. All of these are avoidable where staff have the awareness and tools to respond well.

NICE guideline CG123 (Common mental health problems) sets out the evidence base for identifying and responding to common mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety disorders, and panic disorder. NICE guideline NG58 (Transition between inpatient mental health settings and community or care home settings) addresses the specific vulnerabilities of individuals moving between mental health and care settings, including how receiving care homes and community providers should prepare to support those individuals. Both are directly relevant to health and social care staff.

Care Certificate Standard 9 (Awareness of Mental Health, Dementia and Learning Disability) requires care workers to demonstrate awareness of mental health conditions, how they affect individuals, and how to respond appropriately within their role. This course covers the mental health element of Standard 9 in full. For a complete guide to the Care Certificate and how Prima Cura Training supports assessment across all 16 standards, visit our Care Certificate UK Guide.

Mental Health, Dementia, and Learning Disability: Understanding the Full Picture

One of the most significant gaps this course addresses is the failure to recognise mental health when it presents alongside another primary diagnosis.

A person with dementia who becomes tearful, withdrawn, or resistant to personal care may be experiencing depression. A person with a learning disability who becomes agitated, self-isolating, or disengaged may be experiencing anxiety. A resident who has always been sociable and who gradually stops joining activities may not simply be having a bad week. These presentations are frequently attributed to the primary diagnosis or to behaviour, when the underlying cause is a mental health condition that is entirely treatable and entirely manageable with the right response.

Staff who have been trained in dementia awareness and learning disability awareness but have never been shown how mental health intersects with both are not equipped to see the full picture. This course builds that understanding directly, covering how common mental health conditions present in people who also have dementia, learning disabilities, or both, and what good, person-centred support looks like in practice.

What You Will Learn

By the end of the session, learners will be able to:

• Explain what mental health is, understand the full spectrum of mental health and mental ill health, and challenge the assumptions and stigma that prevent appropriate responses in care settings
• Recognise common mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety, stress, PTSD, and psychosis, and understand how each may present in a care environment
• Understand how mental health conditions present differently when they co-occur with dementia, learning disabilities, or other conditions, and why the primary diagnosis must not become a barrier to recognising mental health needs
• Identify signs of changing mental wellbeing in the individuals they support, including behavioural changes, withdrawal, changes in communication, and refusal of care, and understand what these may indicate
• Respond in a way that is calm, safe, respectful, and person-centred, and understand what good support looks like in practice versus what makes things worse
• Apply the principles of Care Certificate Standard 9 in their day-to-day care practice
• Understand how mental health links to safeguarding, risk, and the care worker’s duty to escalate concerns
• Know how to signpost individuals and families to appropriate support, both within the organisation and externally
• Understand professional boundaries and the limits of the care worker’s role in mental health support
• Contribute to care plans that genuinely reflect an individual’s mental health needs alongside their other support needs

Course Content

Content is adapted to your service type, your client group, and the specific mental health challenges most relevant to your team. Topics covered include:

• What mental health is in a care context
• Common mental health conditions
• Mental health alongside other diagnoses
• Signs and behavioural changes
• Person-centred response
• Care Certificate Standard 9
• Communication and mental health
• Stigma and assumptions
• Safeguarding and mental health
• Signposting and support pathways

How the Course Is Delivered

Sessions are practical, discussion-based, and built around the real mental health situations care staff encounter in their working day. The aim is a genuine shift in how staff understand and respond to mental health, not another awareness session that gets forgotten by Friday. Delivery includes:

• Direct challenge of the assumptions that most commonly prevent staff from recognising mental health in people with dementia or learning disabilities
• Scenario-based discussion covering the specific presentations most likely to arise in your service, including co-occurring conditions and dual diagnosis
• Practical discussion of what good person-centred support looks like in real care environments and what gets in the way
• Review of your organisation’s escalation routes, care planning processes, and signposting pathways where relevant
• Time for questions, because mental health in care consistently generates them once staff start applying the content to people they actually support

Where helpful, we incorporate your own care plans, policies, and any specific incidents or CQC feedback relevant to your service.

Care Certificate Standard 9 and This Course

Care Certificate Standard 9 (Awareness of Mental Health, Dementia and Learning Disability) requires all new care workers to demonstrate awareness of how these conditions affect individuals and how to respond appropriately within their role.

This course covers the mental health element of Standard 9 in full, including the knowledge requirements around common conditions, signs and symptoms, communication, dignity and respect, and escalation. It can be used to support Care Certificate assessment for new starters and forms part of a structured induction programme.

For a complete guide to the Care Certificate, all 16 standards, and how Prima Cura Training supports organisations to deliver and assess it, visit our Care Certificate UK Guide.

Certification and Validity

On completion, learners receive a CPD-accredited certificate of achievement in Mental Health Awareness in Health and Social Care.

A refresher is recommended every 2 to 3 years, or sooner following significant changes to CQC guidance or NICE guidelines, following incidents where mental health was a factor, or where changes in the service user group or staff responsibilities mean existing training no longer reflects current practice.

In-House and Bespoke Training

We adapt every session to your service, your client group, and the specific mental health challenges most relevant to your team.

We can build content around:

• Your specific service type, including residential care, supported living, domiciliary care, and specialist services for people with dementia or learning disabilities
• The co-occurring conditions and dual diagnosis presentations most common in your service
• Your care planning processes, escalation routes, and signposting pathways
• Specific incidents, CQC feedback, or learning reviews where mental health recognition or response was identified as a gap
• Combined delivery with Dementia Awareness, Learning Disability Awareness, Safeguarding Adults, or Mental Capacity Act Training for a joined-up programme

Course Location and Service Areas

We deliver in-house training at your workplace or chosen venue across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and the wider North West. We also deliver nationally across England, including North England, South England, London, and Surrey.

For teams in multiple locations or with remote workers, this course is available live online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

All sessions are led by experienced Prima Cura Training instructors. Every trainer holds an Enhanced DBS certificate.

FAQs

Related Courses

• Safeguarding Adults Training
• Mental Capacity Act 2005 & DoLS
• Learning Disability Awareness
• Key Working with Individuals

Book or Enquire

To book Mental Health Awareness in Health and Social Care Training or request a quote for your team, use the enquiry form on this page or contact us directly.

Our Commitment to Quality and Compliance

At Prima Cura Training, all courses reflect current UK guidance and best practice.

All trainers are experienced professionals with relevant qualifications and ongoing CPD. Because many of the organisations we support work with vulnerable individuals, all trainers hold Enhanced DBS checks.

This course is reviewed against updates from the Care Quality Commission, Skills for Care, NICE, and current UK legislation, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and the Care Act 2014. Course content aligns with NICE guideline CG123, NICE guideline NG58, Care Certificate Standard 9, and Skills for Care mental health guidance.

You can read more on our Quality Assurance and Compliance page.

Reviewed by Stephanie Austin, Owner and Lead Trainer, Prima Cura Training | 25+ years in health and social care | 15+ years as a trainer | Last reviewed: April 2026 | Next review: April 2027

This page is for general guidance only and reflects current UK legislation, CQC guidance, NICE guidelines, and Skills for Care guidance at the date of review. It does not constitute clinical, legal, or regulatory advice. Mental Health Awareness in Health and Social Care Training is a CPD-accredited awareness course and does not qualify learners to diagnose or treat mental health conditions or to provide clinical mental health intervention. Employers remain responsible for ensuring their care planning processes, staff training, and organisational policies reflect the mental health needs of the individuals they support and comply with all applicable legislation and CQC regulatory requirements. Where individuals require clinical mental health support, they should be referred to an appropriate healthcare professional.

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