Mental Health First Aid: Community Helping Community

At Student Health and Wellness (SHAW), staff wondered how to supplement their existing Question, Persuade, and Refer suicide prevention training with a second educational program. How could they teach the Grinnell community to recognize their peers’ mental health struggles before they escalate into crisis situations?

After undergoing an initial training with the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) program, SHAW realized its curriculum could equip individuals with tools to assist others with mental health and addiction concerns. The program, supported by the National Council of Mental Wellbeing, is an early intervention course that trains participants to notice and respond to symptoms and warning signs of mental health and substance use challenges. At the end of the course, participants complete an exam, become certified, and can administer mental health first aid as needed.  

Alexis Steele, manager of SHAW operations, helped arrange the initial MHFA training. The training reached 25 individuals, including several SHAW staff. Since the training was successful, Steele decided to become a certified instructor and teach the course herself, opening the program up to students, faculty, and staff. Each participant costs $25 to train and certify, a cost SHAW covers to make the Grinnell community more confident as they respond and assist peers who may be struggling with mental health.

“Mental health is important everywhere to everyone,” Steele notes. “In my mind, it’s a basic human right. The College is willing to pay for this training because it fits with who we are as Grinnellians. We are a community that cares for each other and for social change. We want to help each other thrive, but mental health can be a barrier for some.”

According to the MHFA training, one in five American adults experience a mental health disorder annually, and over half of all American adults will experience a mental illness in their lives. “College is the age when some mental disorders first show symptoms. We also have a large percentage of students who come to campus with existing diagnoses,” says Steele. “Learning to navigate a whole new environment, culture, and Grinnell’s academic rigor can often challenge the healthy habits and established processes that may have helped someone in the past.”

With the student, staff, and faculty population at Grinnell becoming more diverse, Steele and MHFA have also emphasized cultural competency. Stigma around mental health, for example, can vary depending on nationality and race/ethnicity. “Knowing that culture can impact how a person reacts to discussions and suggestions is important,” says Steele. “Stigma and barriers vary across different cultures; although someone’s behavior may seem off to you, it can be perfectly normal in their culture. It’s important to be aware of this so that you can enter a conversation with curiosity and create a safe space for someone to interact with you.” 

Alongside MHFA-certified Mfon Nwabuoku, associate director of residence life and student conduct, Steele has trained community advisors — who live and oversee students in their respective dorms — and student-athlete mentors at Grinnell, who work directly with student-athlete teams. Steele has taught about 100 people so far.

The six-hour MHFA training session is preceded by two hours of independent work, where participants undergo modules to learn and identify early signs of mental health challenges. In the modules, participants also read statistics and information about major mental health challenges/disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

MHFA also guides participants through online scenarios, demonstrating how mental health first aid applies in real life. In particular, the scenarios prompt participants to notice changes in appearance, behaviors, and feelings — and show how to articulate these changes to the person in a nonjudgmental, safe manner. With these tools, mental health first aiders can approach individuals with compassionate listening, safe check-ins, reassurance, and appropriate support strategies.

Mental health first aid is most effective as an early intervention step. In Grinnell, a growing number of people are becoming certified to help their peers both on and off campus. The sooner a Grinnellian first aider can connect someone to professional and self-help resources, the better the outcome for the individual. As with first aid during physical emergencies, mental health first aid is administered until an individual can take next steps towards receiving appropriate professional help.

“Any student or employee at Grinnell College is eligible to take the classes I teach,” says Steele. “We are such a caring campus. Many people may pick up on signs that somebody is struggling but don’t know how to help them. Or they help too much and aren’t sure what they can do to care for themselves.” 

About the Mental Health First Aid Program

The Mental Health First Aid program is supported by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. The first Mental Health First Aid class at Grinnell was sponsored by an education grant through UnityPoint Health – Des Moines, Eyerly Ball Community Mental Health Services. SHAW sponsors current classes and trainings.

For those seeking mental health resources, call 988. “It’s the national crisis hotline,” says Steele. “You don’t have to be suicidal to call. You can be in any kind of crisis. You can also call if you are worried about someone and don’t know what to do. They are professionals and can help. And it is not 911, so calling won’t trigger the police (which is a barrier for some due to their previous experiences or of those close to them).” Faculty and staff can find further resources at Counseling Resources for Employees (log-in required); students can visit SHAW’s counseling services website.

Faculty and staff can sign up for the MHFA program by checking the Grinnell Learning and Development Instruction Site for future trainings. Students can reach out to Alexis Steele to register. Upon request, training is also available for groups — such as departments, offices, and student groups. Visit the Mental Health First Aid website to learn more.