NVCC Students, Faculty and Staff Participate in Training

WATERBURY, CT - Sixty Naugatuck Valley Community College staff, faculty, and students completed an intensive full-day training to educate them on recognizing mental health challenges and the responses and resources to connect those in need with support and solutions. Several Deans of Student Affairs within the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) also participated. The Mental Health/First Aid training was delivered by the Wheeler Clinic, a community health center that provides health care, addiction treatment, behavioral health, and special education across Connecticut.

In addition, Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training was delivered by the QPR Institute in accordance with the State of Connecticut Suicide Prevention Plan 2020-2025. QPR’s suicide prevention training program is designed to teach professionals how to reduce the immediate risk of suicide and provide longer-term care for those at risk. The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training.

The additional stresses of isolation and disrupted lives because of the pandemic has had a severe effect on college students’ emotional and mental health this year. Commenting on the importance of professional development to address these issues, NVCC Dean of Student Services, Sarah Gager notes that “Education and training empower people to make a positive difference in the life of someone who may be challenged in this area. Our focus was for Deans of Student Affairs and other front-line staff to become ‘gatekeepers’ who recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide.”