MAY 2021: MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS—EMPOWERING SURVIVORS OF domestic violence

NAHSE May Fundraiser - CCADV.png

Educate. Advocate. Serve.

This May, Join NAHSE CT as we educate ourselves about services provided by organizations in the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) and fundraise to support trainings provided to community members across the State.

 
Taylor Corazzo Member, HealthyMinds Alliance at Health360, Inc.

Taylor Corazzo

Member, HealthyMinds Alliance at Health360, Inc.

Increasing Organizational Capacity to Address the Mental Health needs of Communities it Serves.

It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact on mental health. According to a survey conducted by the CDC in June 2020, 40.9% of people reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, such as anxiety or depression. Accessibility of mental health services, increasing community skills via evidence-based suicide intervention and mental health crisis trainings, such as Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) and Mental Health First Aid, would help to improve outcomes for those struggling with mental health issues. QPR is an interactive workshop in suicide first-aid which teaches individuals to recognize when someone may be at risk of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. Mental Health First Aid is a national program which teaches individuals the skills needed to respond to the signs of mental illness and substance use. 

As a Healthy Minds Alliance AmeriCorps Member at Health360, I’ve had the opportunity to teach QPR courses at colleges such as UConn and Quinnipiac University. QPR is a 1.5-2 hour training focused on improving helpers ability to identify and de-escalate a suicide crisis. As social creatures, we innately understand when someone might be in distress, yet commonly struggle with what to say or do in those scenarios. QPR is an accessible, jargon free method which helpers can tailor to meet the needs of the person at risk, and addresses different facets of crisis as well as commonly understood factors contributing to suicide ideation from a culturally responsive perspective. QPR is composed of 3 steps: question the individual on the intent of suicide, persuade the individual to accept help and refer the individual to appropriate assistance. One individual from a QPR training wrote, “An awesome and educational presentation! It seems like such a simple thing, just to talk to someone you love, but suicide is a scary subject when you are face to face. This was helpful in building my confidence to confront these situations.” Providing our helpers with as many tools as possible increases the likelihood of earlier intervention and better outcomes for the person at risk. 

Healthy Minds Alliance is an innovative AmeriCorps program that increases the capacity of our partners to address mental health needs in their local community. Healthy Minds Alliance has partnered with a variety of organizations from across the nation including school districts, mental health centers and AHECs who host Healthy Minds Alliance AmeriCorps members. AmeriCorps members receive training in evidenced-based mental health programs identified by their host sites (e.g. Mental Health First Aid, QPR, etc.). The members’ service year is focused on implementing mental health programming to the community they serve by teaching skills to a broad array of individuals that improve support for people living with mental illness. 

If your organization would like to learn more about hosting a HMA member, please contact harrity@health360.org

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