The Do More Agriculture Foundation is now accepting applications from rural and agricultural communities across Canada interested in offering mental health first aid training. The Do More Agriculture Foundation, in partnership with Farm Credit Canada, has extended and expanded a program under which rural and agricultural communities across Canada can access mental health first aid training. The training, developed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, was made available last year to 12 communities and is expected to reach 25 to 30 communities, if not more, this time around.
Adelle Stewart, the Executive Director of the Do More Agriculture Foundation, says the first year of the program was a resounding success.
Clip-Adelle Stewart-Do More Agriculture Foundation:
The mental health first aid training is aimed at not only providing education awareness but also giving the average individual or the average producer the skills to be able to recognize mental stress and even an onset of potentially a mental crisis. It also gives them the background on how to provide appropriate support within their training level until professional mental health support could be accessed.
They do receive, similar to physical first aid, a mental health first aid certificate and it really helps them to understand their role as a responder or someone who can start a conversation and at the same time helping them understand their boundaries and supporting within their means so, when something has gone past their expertise, how to access appropriate resources.
Source : Farmscape