Mental health first aid training for erie county, pennsylvania - the national alliance on mental illness (nami) of erie county will deliver adult and youth mental health first aid (mhfa) training that…

Mental health first aid training for erie county, pennsylvania - the national alliance on mental illness (nami) of erie county will deliver adult and youth mental health first aid (mhfa) training that benefits numerous populations, including veterans, victims of trauma, students, and low-income populations. The training will be provided by trained and certified adult and youth mhfa instructors and teach participants how to assist someone facing a mental health challenge or crisis. The full populations of focus these trainings are provided to assist are as follows: veterans, active-duty service members, and their families; victims of trauma; the elderly, dying, disabled and their families; students; and low-income families. These populations will be served by providing mhfa training to the following groups: military and their families; first responders, such as law enforcement, firefighters, and EMS; caregivers and service providers for senior citizens; school personnel; and organizations that serve low-income families. The primary intervention will be adult and youth mhfa training, which are evidence-based practices. Mhfa training is appropriate because of the disparate populations that nami will serve through this project. Veterans, first responders, school personnel, senior center employees, etc. All have different skillsets, abilities, experiences, and backgrounds, but mhfa training is applicable to all of them. Mhfa provides information on mental health and mental illnesses, such as symptoms, prevalence, treatments, and recovery statistics. Participants learn an action plan, the algee process, which will enable them to assist when they encounter someone facing a mental health challenge or a mental health crisis until appropriate professional help can become involved. DE-escalation techniques are also taught in the training. The goal of the project is to increase the capacity of erie county residents to administer mhfa to populations at greatest risk of facing mental health challenges or a mental health crisis. To achieve this goal, the main objectives for each year of the grant are reaching a target number of individuals trained in mhfa. Additional objectives include training instructors to increase capacity for training, as well as data analysis, reporting, and quality improvement. This program will serve an average of 255 unduplicated individuals per year, for a total of 1,275 unduplicated individuals served over five years.