One in five people in the United States lives with a mental health illness making it a growing concern in communities. In efforts to help spread awareness, the Illinois Farm and Research Stress Assistance
Network has developed mental health first aid training for people across the state. Shelby Carlson, 4-H Youth Development Educator Tessa Hobbs-Curley, and Family Life Educator for the University of Illinois Extension are both members of the team offering this training. Hobbs-Curley says the training shows how to identify and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health.
“We want to have people be more aware of how to approach one another, how to address it, where we can, I guess, refer individuals who have some, again, mental health challenges,” says Hobbs-Curley.
Both Hobbs-Curley and Carlson are part of the Henderson, Knox, McDonough, and Warren extension cohort. Their work providing mental health first aid was recently recognized with the Paul A Funk Team Award for Excellence.
“We are training you to be that first responder in that situation; not the certified first responder- but until they can get there. Just as if you were in a physical first aid class, we’re not teaching you to do that heart surgery- we’re maybe teaching you to do chest compressions until someone more qualified can get there,” says Carlson. “That’s really what we’re doing with mental health, we’re teaching you how to respond when you are noticing signs and symptoms, and how you can provide that support until a qualified professional can get there.”
Contact your local Extension office to take advantage of mental health first aid training programs.
