It’s called Mental Health First Aid Canada. It’s very similar to the concept of medical first aid. When you are witnessing the early signs of mental illness, what can you do?
Sadly, very few are prepared. The stigma of mental illness also obstructs appropriate action or treatment.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada created the program for this country after learning about the evidence-based work of Betty Kitchener and Professor Tony Jorm in Australia. Formal evaluation of their program demonstrated that successful participants were:
- Better at recognizing mental health problems
- Learned more about appropriate treatments
- Were more confident in providing help
- Overcame any stigma they may have had about mental illness
I believe it is the type of program individuals practitioners, community-based workers, public and private businesses, and the general public have been clamouring for. The 'Basic' version of the course takes approximately 12 hours over a two day period. Our first course here at the Royal is August 11 and August 12. Learn more about this innovative program at the Mental Health Commission website at:
http://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.ca/EN//Pages/default.aspx
Learn more about our course, and register if interested at: http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=991231
As per our blog guidelines - the opinions and comments in this article represent those of the author and should not be considered representative of the ROHCG.
