Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid is offered to someone with an emerging mental health problem or in a mental health crisis until appropriate treatment is found or the situation is resolved.
Mental Health First Aid – Basic
Mental Health First Aid is the support provided to a person who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis. Mental Health First Aid-Basic is intended for adults interacting with adults (18 years and older). This two (2) day in-person session focuses on the four (4) most common mental health disorders including substance-related, mood-related, anxiety and trauma-related, and psychotic disorders. Participants who take this course are well prepared to interact confidently about mental health with their family, friends, communities, and workplaces.
Anyone can be trained to help in this 12-hour in-person evidence-based MHFA Basic course!
MHFA Canada is an evidence-based program of The Mental Health Commission of Canada.
Key Outcomes:
International evaluations and feedback have found the following outcomes for participants undertaking an MHFA course:
- Increased awareness of signs and symptoms of the most common mental health problems
- Decreased stigma related to mental health
- Increased confidence interacting with individuals experiencing a mental health problem or crisis
- Increased help actually provided to individuals in crisis or experiencing a mental health problem
Interested in hosting a session at your organization?
SARC Learning Central’s facilitator can bring this session to your organization! This session can be delivered to a group of employees at your organization in-person or virtually. Contact us today!
Mental Health First Aid-Basic covers the following topics:
- Overdose
- Suicidal behaviour
- Panic attacks
- Psychotic episode
- Acute stress reaction
- ALGEE is the framework for having a confident conversation about mental health with family, friends, colleagues, and strangers
- ALGEE Model:
Assess the risk of suicide and/or harm
Listen non-judgmentally
Give reassurance
Encourage professional support
Encourage other supports
- What is Mental Health First Aid?
- Common mental health problems
- Five basic actions of mental health first aid
- Stigma and discrimination
- What is a substance-related disorder?
- Signs and symptoms
- Risk factors
- MHFA for substance-related problems
- Crisis first aid for overdose
- Treatment and resources
- What is a mood-related disorder?
- Types of mood-related disorders
- Signs and symptoms
- Risk factors
- Substance use and mood disorders
- Suicide in Canada
- MHFA for mood-related problems
- Crisis first aid for suicidal behaviour
- Treatment and resources
- What are anxiety and trauma related disorders?
- Types of anxiety and trauma related disorders
- Signs and symptoms
- Risk factors
- Substance use and anxiety disorders
- MHFA for anxiety and trauma related problems
- Crisis first aid for panic attacks
- Crisis first aid for acute stress reactions
- Treatment and resources
- What is a psychotic disorder?
- Types of psychotic disorders
- Signs and symptoms
- Risk factors
- Substance use and psychotic disorders
- MHFA for psychotic disorders
- Crisis first aid for psychotic episodes
Mental Health First Aid – Standard (virtual)
Mental Health First Aid is the support provided to a person who may be experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis. This 9-hour virtual course will teach you how to recognize signs that a person may be in experiencing a decline in their mental well-being or a mental health crisis, and encourage that person to:
- Talk about declines in their mental well-being
- Discuss professional and other supports that could help with recovery to improved mental well-being
- Reach out to these supports
- Assist in a mental health or substance use crisis
- Use MHFA actions to maintain one’s own mental well-being
There are three modules in Mental Health First Aid Standard course. Module 1 is a self-directed online module that learners must complete before modules 2 and 3, which are facilitated live through Zoom.
Modules 2 and 3 will take place via Zoom and will be facilitated live with SARC’s Mental Health First Aid Instructor.
Interested in hosting a session at your organization?
SARC Learning Central’s facilitator can bring this session to your organization! This session can be delivered to a group of employees (minimum of 8) at your organization virtually. Contact us today!
Mental Health First Aid – Standard covers the following topics:
- Introduction to the course
- Introduction to MHFA actions
- Practice applying MHFA actions to situations of declining mental well-being
- Guidelines for MHFA conversations with people from diverse cultures and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community
- Discussion on using MHFA actions for self-care
- Practice using MHFA actions in crisis situations
Lisa Malowany, Program Manager and Trainer, SARC
Lisa Malowany has been involved in the Disability Service sector since 1989. She is a graduate of the Rehabilitation Worker Program (now called the Disability Support Worker Program) and received her two-year Diploma from SIAST (now Saskatchewan Polytechnic) in 1992. She is also a graduate of the Leadership Saskatoon Program in 2012-2013.
She has experience in a variety of roles within community based organizations from direct service to management, and has also served on Boards of Directors. Lisa has had the privilege of working with a wide range of people experiencing disability and what she has learned from them has formed the basis of her career. Although Lisa no longer works in direct service, that experience is at the heart of everything she does and helps to form every decision she makes in her work.
Lisa has worked for SARC since 2002 in various capacities. She has been a PART and TLR Instructor since 2014, and a Mental Health First Aid – Basic Instructor since 2018. Lisa is described as a passionate trainer who uses her past experience and knowledge to enhance her training sessions. She loves to share stories of her past experiences to bring training material to real life and uses activities and humour to create a positive learning environment.
