Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training
Training Responders and Individuals to Navigate using Mental Health First Aid (TRAIN-MHFA)
What is TRAIN-MHFA?
A program that aims to:
Improve mental health literacy among community members (first responders, teachers, parents and youth) and community advocates (CBOs staff)
Increase their confidence in responding to people of color with mental health issues and crisis through Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches people how to recognize and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders and develop skills to be able to provide support and connect people to mental health services.
Why does TRAIN-MHFA matter?
9.8% of African American, 9.7% of Latinx, and 7% of Asian American adults received mental health services in the past year compared to 19.8% of White adults.
People of color often suffer from poor mental health outcomes due to:
Inaccessibility to culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health care services
Stigma surrounding mental health care
Lack of awareness about mental health conditions
Our Strategic Interventions
Develop 5 cultural supplements (Chinese, Korean, South Asian, Latinx and African American) to educate First Aiders to be culturally sensitive when responding to people of color with mental health challenges and crisis.
Create a mental health community resource guide for Latinx, Korean, Chinese, South Asian and African American communities to increase accessibility of tailored, community-level information about mental health and available services.
Implement the linkage to care project - IL Care Continuum portal to make referrals to mental health providers.
Provide MHFA trainings CBO staff members, first responders, teachers, parents, and youth in communities of color.
Provide mental health literacy and skill-based educational sessions to Mental Health First Aiders via Project ECHO
Community Partners
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Click HERE to learn more about ‘Mental Health, Resources and Training Opportunities’
How can you get trained?
We are offering Mental Health First Aid trainings for FREE! Whether you are a community member, employer, first responder, or more, anyone can sign up for our trainings. For more information on the trainings and how you can sign up, email Asian Health Coalition at BHinfo@asianhealth.org.
Building Healthy Communities: Behavioral Health Initiative
What is Building Healthy Communities: Behavioral Health Initiative?
A program that aims to:
Increase awareness of mental health and reduce mental health stigma in communities of color
Increasing the delivery of culturally competent mental health care among mental health providers
Increasing community advocates and members’ knowledge about mental health and confidence in responding to persons of color with mental health challenges
Enhancing access to a full continuum of culturally appropriate and integrated behavioral services, support, and treatment
Building the success of our works thru the Coalition of Healthy Asian Minds Program (CHAMP) and Training Responders and Individuals to Navigate using Mental Health First Aid (TRAIN-MHFA) in the Chicago areas, we will expand these behavioral health initiatives to suburban Cook County targeting the Arab American, African American, and Latinx communities.
Our Strategic Interventions
Conduct a multi-language media campaign to increase awareness of MH and reduce stigma in communities of color
Provide Project ECHO series for mental health providers to increase the delivery of culturally competent mental health care
Utilize the evidence-based program, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), and develop cultural supplements to improve CBO staff and community members’ knowledge about mental disorders and their confidence in responding to person of color with mental health challenges
Develop a multi-language mental health resource guide and a mental health referral module in the existing IL Care Continuum (ICC) portal to enhance access to full continuum of mental health services, support and treatment