Mental Health First Aid – Fire/EMS and Older Adults: Integrated Services of Kalamazoo (ISK) will provide Mental Health First Aid-USA (MHFA) training for 2 populations of focus: 1) Emergency Medical Services (EMS)/Fire personnel, co-workers, and adults in the community they serve and 2) Older adults age 60 and over. Individuals to receive training include EMS/Fire personnel and families and caregivers of older adults and organizations serving older adults.
Strategy: MHFA - Fire/EMS training will be provided to Fire/EMS personnel and families and MHFA - Older Adults to caregivers of older adults and organizations serving older adults. Additional audiences are healthcare systems, human services providers, and others in the community who encounter the population of focus.
Population of Focus: The focus population for this project is adults who come into contact with EMS/Fire services, EMS/Fire personnel, and older adults in Kalamazoo County. The intended individuals to receive MHFA - EMS/Fire training include over 1200 staff from 2 EMS Ambulance companies and 15 Fire Departments throughout the County. Exposure to trauma and violence result in unique needs and risk factors for emergency personnel which are addressed in this. The intended individuals for MHFA - Older Adults include family members and caregivers for the 54,372 older adults in the County, organizations serving older adults. Double stigma of aging and mental health, declining health or mobility, as well as loss of social supports result in unique needs and risk factors addressed in this project.
Number served: In Year 1, 300 individuals trained; Years 2 through 5, 375 individuals trained each year for a total of 1800 by the end of Year 5.
Goal 1: Increase capacity of emergency medical services (EMS) and fire personnel to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental illness and substance use, de-escalate a crisis, and refer to additional help. Objective 1a: By end of year 5, 2 EMS organizations and 4 fire departments will partner with ISK to plan, implement, and recruit for MHFA trainings. Objective 1b: By the end of year 5, 13 Mental Health First Aid – Fire/EMS trainings will have been provided to 325 people.
Goal 2: Increase capacity of individuals in contact with older adults to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental illness and substance use disorder. Objective 2a: By end of year 5, 5 organizations serving older adults will partner with ISK to plan, implement, and recruit for MHFA trainings. Objective 2b: By the end of year 5, 9 Mental Health First Aid – Older Adults trainings will have been provided to 225 people.
Goal 3: Broaden the impact of MHFA in the community through outreach and engagement strategies. Objective 3a: By end of year 1, written and electronic material regarding resources, supports, and referral processes for the focus populations will be developed and disseminated for MHFA trained individuals. Objective 3b: By the end of year 5, 50 Mental Health First Aid community trainings will be provided to 1250 people within 5 types of stakeholder/audience groups in Kalamazoo County representative of the diversity of the populations of focus.