Mental Health America of Northern Kentucky & Southwest Ohio (MHA) will launch "MHFA for High Risk Populations", a five year project using the evidenced based practice, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), for the target population: Active military, veterans, first responders and other high-risk frontline professionals and their family members.
The geographic region will be throughout Southwest Ohio (Brown, Butler, Champagne, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Green, Hamilton, Highland, Logan, Montgomery, Preble and Warren Counties) and Northern Kentucky (Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen, and Pendleton Counties). Project goals are: increase the number of active military (and their families), veterans (and their families) and first responders who receive mental health awareness training so that trainees increase their capacity to address their own mental health needs, the needs of veterans and first responders and the needs of those with whom they come into contact; increase help-seeking behaviors and access to resources by establishing or strengthening linkages between active military (and their families, veteran (and their families), and first responders and community based mental health and prevention services; and increase the capacity of the region's ability to provide MHFA as an affordable and accessible training. Project objectives are: conduct outreach and promotions to attract a minimum of 600 individuals annually (or 3,000 over the life of the grant) from the target populations to register for and complete MHAT training; equip 600 individuals annually (or 3,000 over the life of the grant) from the target population with MHAT (Mental Health First Aid or Youth Mental Health First Aid- Fire/EMS/Veteran/Public Safety Services Modules); assist a minimum of 200 people annually experiencing risks of depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation or other mental health or substance abuse crises with access to information and linkages through the Help for Heroes helpline or MHA's information and referral service (totaling 1,000 through the life of the grant); connect with community based mental health and prevention services twice annually throughout the life of the grant to review linkages, revise, and maintain a standard guide to mental health and prevention services (including tool kit for first aiders); certify 2 new instructors in MHFA annually throughout the life of the grant; provide 6 instructors with the Fire/EMS, Veteran, and Public Safety Services module training; educate regional stakeholders on target population need for MHAT through participation in a minimum of 12 stakeholder meetings/trainings/conferences, etc. annually throughout the life of the grant; and update the MHFA Sustainability Plan, first drafted through AWARE-C and revised through the Ohio Statewide MHFA Collaborative effort once annually throughout the life of the grant.