Portage mhat project - portage county mental health awareness trainings (portage mhat) is a collaborative project spanning portage county that will utilize evidence-based gatekeeper trainings and…

Portage mhat project - portage county mental health awareness trainings (portage mhat) is a collaborative project spanning portage county that will utilize evidence-based gatekeeper trainings and referral mechanisms to focus on helping at-risk populations including youth in a school setting, older adults in the general public, and armed services personnel, veterans, and their families. Portage mhat will offer trainings in schools for teachers and relevant school personnel in the public-school systems in portage county as well as community trainings for family members/caregivers of youth or veterans and primary care/service providers to the general public on how to effectively and safely engage with someone in a mental health crisis. In portage county, approximately 32% of youth indicated "feeling SAD or hopeless" almost every day for two weeks or more that they stopped doing their usual activities, a 5% increase from 2016 to 2019 (CHA). Additionally, 13% of youth reported seriously considering suicide in the past year, with 8% attempting suicide (CHA); a rate 1.2% higher than that of the state of ohio (YRBS). Overall, 56% of youth experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and 26% experienced three or more in their lifetime (CHA). Older adults are among the highest risk for suicide. Depression and anxiety are frequently unreported and untreated in people over the age of 65 and older. Further, the CHA reported 27% of adults 65 and older reported they were limited in some way because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem. According to the US department of veterans affairs, after adjusting for differences in age and SEX, risk for suicide was 22% higher among veterans compared with U.S. Civilian adults. Veterans who completed a depression screening in portage county found 31% screened for depression, 12% severe depression, 14% suicidal ideation (11% nationally), and 2% attempted suicide in the last 12 months (1.5% nationally). In 2015, 17% of the 267 deaths by suicides in ohio, were veterans (ohio violent death reporting system, 2015). The goals of the project are (1) certify 60 qualified question, persuade, and refer (QPR) trainers (12 each year over 5 years) throughout portage county (2) use in-person QPR and mental health first aid (youth and adult versions) (Y/MHFA) to train 3,080 individuals (616 each year over 5 years); (3) identify a diverse group of individuals to receive trainings; (4) create and distribute written and electronic mental health resource materials as well as create and improve referral mechanisms in the school and community (5) develop and expand collaborative partnerships with agencies to improve coordination of services; (6) launch hear to help a stigma reduction campaign for schools with the purpose of increasing positive help-seeking behavior and referrals to mental health services. Portage mhat will consist of a partnership between the mental health and recovery board of portage county, kent state university, mental health agencies, community organizations and public schools in portage county