Elmhurst Hospital introduces Mental Health First Aid to community

Elmhurst Hospital hosted a Community Collaboration Breakfast on April 15 to introduce Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to key leaders and groups in its service area, including school districts, churches, police and fire departments, and social workers.

Mary Lou Mastro, President & CEO, Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, explained how MHFA teaches community members to recognize the signs and symptoms of behavioral health issues and learn tools and techniques for administering initial intervention.

Mastro launched MHFA in the Chicago suburbs in 2011 when she was the CEO of Linden Oaks Behavioral Health. Today, there’s a consortium of 50 instructors who teach the basic MHFA curriculum. Mastro’s intent is to create a similar consortium of trainers in the Elmhurst region with the goal of teaching MHFA to 2,000 community members within three years. Since MHFA began, more than 5,000 individuals in DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall, Grundy, Lake, Cook and McHenry Counties have taken part in the eight-hour MHFA training program.

Participants learn the basics of common mental illnesses, including depression and related disorders; eating disorders; substance abuse; psychoses, such as dementia and schizophrenia; and anxiety disorders. While participants are not taught to assume the role of a mental health professional, they do learn to effectively communicate with individuals experiencing a mental health crisis and guide them to appropriate professional help.

For more information about MHFA, visit www.lindenoaks.org/mentalhealthfirstaid. For information about setting up an MHFA training program, contact Denise Elsbree at delsbree@edward.org or (630) 646-5154.