Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Montefiore Medical Center proposes to deliver Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training to at least 1,140 front-line staff serving vulnerable individuals in the Bronx and Westchester with a total population of 2.4 million people. There is an enormous need for this training as the prevalence of mental disorders is very high in this region, and even though there is a plethora of mental health specialty treatment providers, the vast majority of treatment is delivered in primary care settings which leads to non-adherence with treatment and adverse outcomes. Consequently, we propose to: 1) improve the capability and knowledge of front-line governmental, educational, and medical staff located in the Bronx and Westchester to identify early signs of mild and severe mental illness; and 2) increase the number of people with MH disorders referred for specialty MH treatment. As Montefiore and our affiliates currently deliver 60% of the mental health care in the region (and are a NYS-certified mental health provider), we aim to improve the process of referring adults and children with mental health problems into specialty MH clinics – both Montefiore and non-Montefiore treatment programs. Montefiore has considerable experience and expertise in managing the mental health referral process as we currently oversee more than 40,000 referrals annually into specialty MH treatment. MHFA is an evidence-based curriculum that is listed in SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. It teaches participants how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illness. We propose to deliver a blended curriculum, which assigns participants 2-hours of pre-work, and then 4.5 hours of in-person classroom curriculum in cohorts of 10 trainees. All trainees will receive a certificate upon completion (lasting 3 years), and eligible trainees will receive continuing education credit. Montefiore is confident that we can begin delivering this training prior to Month 4 and meet the volume projections since we have 2 educators who are already certified to deliver MHFA training. The front-line staff to be trained include medical personnel in Montefiore’s outpatient clinics, school and college personnel, and governmental employees, including law enforcement. We have commitments from our community partners who have identified staff that are eligible and interested in MHFA training, which is why we expect to exceed our volume projections. In addition to the MHFA training, all participants will have access to an updated resource guide that describes the procedures for making MH referrals in the region. Given Montefiore’s experience with federal grants, Montefiore will be able to provide all necessary data on attendance in training and volume of MH treatment referrals.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
