Our Mental Health team strives to enhance mental health support for IFNA community members every day. Recently, the Mental Health team has brought new training programs to IFNA including the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). ASIST is an interactive and practice-dominated two-day course designed to train community members in suicide first aid.
The program helps participants recognize, review and intervene to prevent the risk of suicide by:
- Recognizing and assisting a person at risk to avoid suicide
- Discussing suicide with a person at risk in a direct manner
- Demonstrating the skills required to intervene with a person at risk of suicide
- Identifying risk alerts and developing a safe plan related to them
- Providing the types of resources available to a person at risk of suicide
Recently, the Mental Health team successfully conducted ASIST with members of the Education and Health Services departments. Ten more IFNA staff are now able to better assist with suicide prevention in their roles at IFNA.
With the first-ever IFNA-lead ASIST class having graduated, the Mental Health team will continue its important journey to ensure all IFNA community members have ASIST caregivers who are able to provide life-assisting, suicide first aid. The Mental Health team has trained staff who are ready and able to provide this training to IFNA communities.
Reach out to Derek Sanderson at IFNA to book a course for your community. A minimum of 8 participants is required.
Mental Health Counsellor
Derek Sanderson
807-251-4873 | dsanders@ifna.ca
