Mental health belongs to all of US - healthalliance of the hudson valley, a member of the wmchealth network, operates a 315-hospital bed health care system in delaware and ulster county, NY

Healthalliance will embark on a project, mental health belongs to all of US, with the overall goal to expand the community's capacity to increase awareness of mental health issues and connect people to needed services. The program's objectives include increasing mental health literacy, increasing capacity to respond to behavioral health issues, and conducting outreach and engagement strategies to increase awareness of and promote positive behavioral health. Healthalliance will partner with family of woodstock to employ the evidence-based practices of mental health first aid, youth mental health first aid, asist, safetalk, and psychological first aid to train members of the community to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders. The target population is adult (18-65) and youth (13-18) in the geographic catchment area of delaware, dutchess and ulster counties, NY. Often the mental health issues of youth are driven by the mental health of their parents, and an effective intervention must address both. Individuals to be trained include, but are not limited to, first responders (i.e. police, correction officers, EMS personnel, etc.); college personnel and students; all levels of school personnel; high school students; staff of public institutions such as libraries, health and highway departments, etc.; community members at large; veterans; older adults and caretakers, visiting nurses and home health aides; faith-based communities; and nurses and primary care workers. Healthalliance is the largest employer in delaware and ulster county and the goal is to train one-quarter of employees and train individuals from the community twice a month for a total of 2,732 people.