Pittsfield, MA — Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) certification, offered by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, is now required of all final semester students as part of the BCC associate degree program in nursing and the practical nursing program.
The statistics are sobering: According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an average of 130 people die by suicide, and according to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental illness. In addition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 841,000 people died from drug overdoses from 1999 – 2019.
Mental Health First Aid teaches the skills needed to recognize and respond to signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use challenges, as well as how to provide someone with initial support until they are connected with appropriate professional help. Students learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies to help someone in both crisis and noncrisis situations, and where to turn for help. Topics covered include depression and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma, psychosis and substance use disorders.
We believe this certification is essential for all healthcare professionals, and our students stand out by graduating with this credential. We hope that more BCC faculty, staff and programs will adopt this initiative and make completing this training a priority as we face increasing mental health challenges in our society.
Moon noted that two BCC full-time nursing faculty members, Katie Polchlopek and Kim VanDeusen, have completed MHFA instructor training through a BCC workforce initiative and are now certified as First Aiders in this curriculum.
Instructor certification is obtained through a three-day training that covers the MHFA course and offers detailed guidance on how to teach the curriculum. The training includes self-paced pre-work, a written exam, and a presentation that assesses each candidate's ability to effectively deliver the MHFA course to diverse audiences. To maintain certification, instructors must teach the course at least three times annually.