Mental Health First Aid - Health Providers Training Day

LABELLE, FL. -- Hendry and Glades county health professionals and volunteers met all day Wednesday at the Hendry Emergency Operations Center classroom for training in Mental Health First Aid, instructed by mental health counselors Richard Keenan and Lorena Rodriguez of Golisano Children's Hospital and it's Kid's Minds Matter program and Edwin Melendez Cortez of Hendry County Health Department.

Mental Health First Aid is an evidenced-based, 8-hour training program teaching how to recognize the signs and symptoms of an emerging mental health problem or a mental health crisis.

Stigma can be a substantial barrier to early recognition and initiation of treatment for those experiencing mental health problems. Stigma occurs when family, friends, teachers, and healthcare professionals do not understand or have the knowledge to recognize that psychiatric symptoms may be associated with serious problems that may end in a suicide.

The training helps identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses including substance use disorders.

Attending the class were representatives from the Hendry/Glades Health Department, Salvation Army, Goodwill of SW Florida, 1st Baptist Church, Health Choice Network, Florida Community Health Centers, Ross Dynasty Cares, and Hendry County government.

Mental Health First Aid was created in Australia in 2001 by Betty Kitchener, a nurse specializing in health education in collaboration with Tony Jorm, a respected mental health literacy professor. The vision of the National Council for Behavioral Health is that MHFA becomes as common as Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and First Aid training courses, reducing the stigma associated with seeking mental health care among children and adolescents and to help recognize and relieve distress in individuals experiencing mental health issues.

In 2015, Congress passed the Mental Health First Aid Act authorizing $20 million for MHFA. This act provides participants the training to recognize symptoms of common mental illnesses and substance use disorders, to de-escalate crisis situations safely, and to initiate timely referral to mental health and substance abuse resources in the community. The funding was provided offering people, free of charge, to learn about mental health and the resources available.

Credit: Portions of this article are from Mary Kay Silverman, "Improving Emergency Department Nurses' Self-Perceived Self-Efficacy in Early Recognition of Patients in a Mental Health Crisis" (2019).