Indiana continues to lag behind other states in mental health services. To address this issue, Indiana University’s Prevention Insights is offering free mental health and suicide prevention training in 13 Indiana counties. The trainings are available through a two-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Cris Henderson “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of children and adults, including increasing feelings of anxiety or depression,” said Cris Henderson, assessment specialist and partner at research at Prevention Insights at IU School of Public Health-Bloomington. “This funding opportunity allows Prevention Insights to meaningfully support our Indiana communities by providing free, high-quality training programs to people working in multiple fields such as education, harm reduction, criminal justice , mental health and the treatment of substance use disorders.”
Prevention Insights will offer two programs – Mental Health First Aid Training and Question Persuade Refer Suicide Prevention Training – to people who live or work in Allen, Boone, Carroll, Clinton, Fayette, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan , Owen, Scott, Tippecanoe and White Counties. Two virtual options are available in June: Adult Mental Health First Aid from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 28 and Question Persuade Refer from 10 a.m. to noon on June 16. Registration is available on the Mental Health Awareness Training Project page.
Mental Health First Aid training will teach participants how to help someone with a mental health problem and how to appropriately approach a crisis until professional help can arrive. The course, which will accommodate up to 30 participants, includes approximately two hours of independent online preparatory work and eight hours of live online training.
The Question Persuade Refer two-hour virtual course, which will accommodate up to 35 participants, teaches individuals to recognize the warning signs of suicide and what to do in a crisis.
Community members are allowed to enroll in both courses. In addition to the June events, they can schedule additional virtual or in-person trainings.
Heather Todd, director of the project, said the courses provide the resources needed for people from all walks of life to actively engage in solving a health issue that affects all Hoosiers.
“There’s no question that the state and the nation have seen a serious decline in people’s mental health over the past few years,” Todd said. “We hope these trainings will provide individuals with valuable knowledge and skills to empower themselves in their daily lives to help those in need.”
For more information or to schedule training for your group, contact Todd at [email protected].
