The Helipad Program: Brief online training to support workplace mental health

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What is the Helipad program?

The Helipad program is a brief, interactive 5-module program designed for workplaces that takes around 20-30 minutes to complete. 

The program was co-designed with people with lived experience of mental-ill health and workplace representatives, and includes interactive material such as videos, help-seeking information, and quizzes. 

Why was Helipad created?

Many employees across different industries experience poor mental health. This can affect their work and quality of life. Increasing the use of appropriate mental health support services can improve general wellbeing and workplace productivity. There are currently no widely used programs that can help workers learn when and how to seek help.

Helipad is designed to increase employee’s intentions to seek help if they were to experience depression or anxiety and to change knowledge and beliefs around mental health in workplaces. Figure 1 below shows a screenshot from Module 1 of the program – Recognising symptoms. 

Figure 1. Screenshot from Module 1 of the Helipad program (Recognising symptoms)

How was Helipad evaluated?

The Helipad Trial 

Using a cluster randomised controlled design, we compared the effectiveness of the Helipad program with a control program, which included basic information about mental health. 

We recruited a total of 487 employees from 51 diverse Australian workplaces in the trial. All workplaces were required to have >50 employees and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) available. Participants completed evaluation surveys before and after the program, and again 6 months later.

What the trial found

Figure 2 below shows how the Helipad program increased employees’ intentions to seek help from a health professional, compared with the control program at post-test, with a statistically significant difference between the programs (t _359.35 = -3.72, p < .001).

Helipad also improved mental health literacy and help seeking attitudes at post-test, but did not significantly change other outcomes at 6 months (e.g., help seeking behaviour, quality of life etc.) Mental illness stigma decreased significantly in both conditions.

Psychological distress moderated the benefits of the program, which means that only Helipad, and not the control program, was effective for people with both high and low distress.

Figure 2. Intentions to seek help from professionals by program over time.

What do the findings mean?

The Helipad program improved employees’ intentions to seek help from a health professional and their knowledge about common mental health issues they may face in the workplace, such as depression and anxiety. Helipad also reduced stigma, although not significantly more than the comparison program that provided basic information.

Helipad appears to be more effective for preventing mental health problems in workplaces than providing simple information alone; the program may also lead to earlier and more effective action by employees when symptoms appear.

How can workplaces access the program?

We are working towards launching the Helipad online program cost-free in early 2027. 

If you would like to be informed of when it will be available, you can email us at helipad@anu.edu.au and provide your contact details so we can follow up with you when the program is available.

Publications

Batterham, P. J., Gulliver, A., Heffernan, C., Calear, A. L., Werner-Seidler, A., Turner, A., Farrer, L. M., Chatterton, M. L., Mihalopoulos, C., Gendi, M., & Berk, M. (2026). Effectiveness of a Brief Internet-Based Workplace Training Program to Support Help Seeking for Mental Ill-Health: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of medical Internet research, 28, e89215. https://doi.org/10.2196/89215

Batterham, P. J., Gulliver, A., Heffernan, C., Calear, A. L., Werner-Seidler, A., Turner, A., Farrer, L. M., & Berk, M. (2026). Determinants of implementation success for a digital single-session intervention for workplace mental health: Mixed methods evaluation in a cluster trial. Internet interventions, 45, 100970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2026.100970 

Gulliver, A., Heffernan, C., Mercieca, P., McMahon, J., & Batterham, P. J. (2025). Co-designing a brief online mental health program to support help seeking in workplaces. Design for Health, 9(2), 216–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/24735132.2025.2506297

Batterham, P. J., Gulliver, A., Heffernan, C., Calear, A. L., Werner-Seidler, A., Turner, A., Farrer, L. M., Chatterton, M. L., Mihalopoulos, C., & Berk, M. (2024). A Brief Workplace Training Program to Support Help-Seeking for Mental Ill-Health: Protocol for the Helipad Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR research protocols, 13, e55529. https://doi.org/10.2196/55529

General information

The ethical aspects of this research were approved by the ANU Human Research Ethics Committee (Protocol 2023/053). If you have any concerns or complaints about how this research has been conducted, please contact: 

Human.Ethics.Officer@anu.edu.au 

If you are interested in accessing some general help and support, you can try contacting some of the services listed below, or visit their websites for further information:

• Beyondblue Support Service (24/7): 1300 22 4636, www.beyondblue.org.au
• SANE Helpline (9am to 5pm): 1800 187 263, www.sane.org
• Mensline (24/7): 1300 78 99 78, www.mensline.org.au
• Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277, www.relationships.org.au/about
• 1800 RESPECT (24/7): 1800 737 732, www.1800respect.org.au

The Helipad Trial was led by the Australian National University in collaboration with researchers from Black Dog Institute, Deakin University, Monash University, The University of Melbourne, and MAGNET, the Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network. This research was supported by the Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network (MAGNET), which is funded by a peer-reviewed 2020 MRFF Million Minds Mission MHR grant (MRF2006296).