{"id":305831,"date":"2019-08-13T06:06:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T20:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=305831"},"modified":"2019-08-13T06:06:01","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T20:06:01","slug":"40-learn-how-to-administer-mental-health-first-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/40-learn-how-to-administer-mental-health-first-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"40 learn how to administer mental health first aid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some of the participants in the Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid training last July 23 and 25 pose with their certificates. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Community Guidance Center\u2019s System of Care program did another round of Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid training last July 23 and 25 to several groups, with a total of 40 individuals being certified for MHFA.<\/p>\n

That means the participants are now certified to provide initial help to people who may be experiencing depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviors, non-suicidal self-injuries, substance use, or those who are reacting to a traumatic event. <\/p>\n

The training series was conducted by SOC staff Guadalupe Camacho and Kimberly Mendiola, and Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention Program staff Fred Fatialofa and Mia Jones.<\/p>\n

The MHFA training is an eight-hour course that provides participants with tools to identify when someone might be struggling with a mental health or substance use problem and to connect them with appropriate support and resources when necessary. Similar to how cardio-pulmonary training helps individuals gain skills to provide basic medical health assistance during an emergency, MHFA prepares participants to interact with a person experiencing a mental health crisis. <\/p>\n

The first aiders learn a five-step action plan that guides them through the process of reaching out and offering appropriate support. <\/p>\n

The System of Care program offers trainings for two curricula: Youth MHFA and Adult MHFA. Youth MHFA is designed to help adolescents aged 12-18 years old, while the Adult MHFA is designed to help those above the age of 18. <\/p>\n

In just 10 years, mental health first aid has become a full-blown movement in the United States\u2014more than 1 million people are certified mental health first aiders, and that number is growing every day. <\/p>\n

Those that attended the training were staff of Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc.; Living Hope Church; CHCC Maternal and Child Health Bureau; CHCC Psychiatric Unit; Commonwealth Cancer Association; Substance Abuse, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Program; CNMI Drug Court; Northern Marianas Sports Association; Saipan World Resort; Public School System; Northern Marianas College; Marianas Variety; and other community members. <\/p>\n

For agencies or individuals interested in receiving MHFA certifications or for more information on MHFA, contact the System of Care office in San Antonio at (670)664-4604. <\/p>\n

The Community Guidance Center System of Care Program is funded in part by a federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. <\/p>\n

For more information about Commonwealth Health Care Corp. programs, follow it on Facebook and Twitter at @cnmichcc, check out its website at www.chcc.gov.mp or call (670) 234-8950. (PR)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Community Guidance Center\u2019s System of Care program did another round of Youth and Adult…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":305832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[55],"class_list":["post-305831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-health-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}