Mission’s Initiatives Community Cares: Mental Health Response Training & Stone Soup

What is CC:MHRT?  Free Mental Health training  Designed for both professional and lay first responders  Delivered on-line since April 2013  Available 24/7 – students work at own pace  Modular – 8 sections – students can do any or all  Course can be done alone or in a group  Partnerships – MHCC, CAI, DoFP, Riverside College and Summit Learning Centre  Certificate granted

 Arose from Mission’s Community Health Plan  Seed funded by Community Action Initiative, with a view to creating a program with national applicability.  Impetus came from background studies that showed:  A need for enhanced services;  And a gap between professional first responder self- assessment of needs and the assessment of consumers and families.  Research has dictated course content and design. Project Background

Success!  Since inception in early 2013, more than 2500 people have signed up.  More than 725 currently on-line  Enrolment across BC, Canada and the World.  Remote areas!  More than 350,000 minutes of video watched  Roughly equivalent to 3000 modules taken  Up 13% in second year  Continued strong enrolment  Many colleges and employers now using the curriculum

 Not just professional first responders  Anyone who has a first response capacity, including  Family, Others with diagnoses  Clergy  Schools  Landlords  Employers  Businesses, and  Professionals What is a First Responder?

 It starts with dignity and empowerment  De-stigmatization  Undoing MENTAL HEALTH MYTHS such as:  Mental Illness is rare.  All mental illness is the same.  Mentally ill people are dangerous.  Mental illness is a choice.  Mental illness equals schizophrenia/psychosis, which means a split personality. The Essence of Community Response

 It also means:  Building community capacity; reducing dependency on professional services  Seeing a crisis as a critical point for mustering services  Taking a Psychosocial Rehabilitative (PSR or holistic approach)  Reinterpreting our job descriptions; focusing on what is satisfying and successful  Breaking the frustrating cycle so that we are all seeing results The Essence of Community Response

 We learn to assess before we address, using  Cultural and trauma sensitivity  Non-threatening approach  Validated consumer and stakeholder roles  Crisis management allows us to keep working safely together  Understanding how to refer and connect people to help  Understanding community resources  Knowing the language and the law of mental health intervention  Knowing how to be a part of Community-Based Teams Enhanced Skills Means Greater Capacity

 A person can sign up on-line and begin in less than 5 minutes.  There is absolutely no cost.  There are 8 distinct modules. A person can take any number, in any order.  The schedule is asynchronous, which means you can do it when you want at the pace you want.  It is offered completely on-line, but we have had groups do the course together as well.  It is up-to-date and based on current best practices. Course details

 More than 25% improvement across modules, including professionals  Slowly breaking through to professional first responders  Great response from those who have completed and excellent word of mouth. Most people who try it, recommend it. Results

 Funded currently until June30, 2015  Total cost per annum is $7000.  $500 month for teaching/monitoring/assistance to students  $700 for rack cards and posters.  $300 for web hosting and maintenance.  Partnerships are preferred. (The District of Mission has been our longest partner.)  Sponsors logos and names added to website, certificates and promotional materials Course Funding