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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
New training for mental health professionals in the NWT is expected to enhance crisis intervention services in the communities.

Jocelyn MacLean, a social worker in Fort Simpson, writes brainstorming ideas on a board during the Mental Health First Aid course in Yellowknife. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo

Eleven individuals from around the territory were in Yellowknife for a five-day course on mental health first aid from Oct. 15 to Oct. 19.

The goal of the 12-hour mental health first aid course was to train instructors to teach the program in their home community twice per year.

The course does not qualify participants to counsel in a professional capacity, but it will teach them how to identify the signs of mental illness, how to connect someone with mental illness to the correct supports, and how to deal with a mental health crisis.

"We already have people trained in the Beaufort Delta," said Kathleen Mackey, mental health planner for the Department of Health and Social Services. "Those folks have already been to Fort McPherson, Tuktoyaktuk, and I think they have plans to go across the Beaufort Delta. They'll travel from their base in Inuvik, the regional base, out to the communities. "Hay River already has trainers and I believe they've already done their first aid training this year as well."

Mackey said the GNWT contracted the talents of master instructor Denise Waligora from Ottawa to teach the course as part of the department's three-year wellness action plan.

The Mental Health First Aid course is an initiative of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, and has been utilized in 18 countries including the United States, England, Japan and Australia - where it was developed.

In addition to providing participants with accurate information about mental illness, the course breaks interaction down into the acronym, ALGEE. The acronym is designed to help first aiders decide the best course of action when faced with someone showing signs of mental illness or who are in a mental health crisis.

"It breaks it down into different tips on how to do things based on different diagnoses," said Joceyln MacLean, a social worker from Fort Simpson who attended the course.

"Someone with anxiety might have a panic attack; what do you do? Someone with schizophrenia might have a hallucination; what do you do? It's geared specifically to address what you would do with the panic attack or the hallucination."

The course covers a wide variety of mental health issues including substance-related disorders, emotional disorders, anxiety disorders, and psychosis.

Kristy Jones, a community social worker from Fort Smith, said the course would be informative for anyone but believes people who interact with people with mental health problems would particularly benefit.

"Awareness and education, I think that means the more people that have accurate information ... around mental health problems, the better we'll be able to meet individuals needs who are struggling with mental health problems," said Jones.

"(The course) really does help people in interacting and it dispels a lot of the myths of mental illness," said Mackey.

"For example, some people think that people with mental illness are more violent and they're not. They're more apt to be hurt or victimized."

The 12-hour mental health first aid course is open to any member of the public or professional group who would like to take it.

Those interested in the course should contact their regional health authority or visit the Mental Health First Aid Canada website for more information.

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