Media Release:
Great South Coast builds capacity to support community mental health and wellbeing.
Youth Live4Life, in collaboration with local communities are seeking suitably qualified and experienced community members to become Youth and Teen Mental Health First Aid instructors.
In partnership with Western Victoria Primary Health Network and the leadership group from the Great South Coast Suicide Prevention Place-Based Trial, Youth Live4life are working with representatives from across the Great South Coast region to train over 20 community members to become Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructors.
Through the delivery of mental health first aid across the Great South Coast region of Victoria - which includes the Shires of Warrnambool, Glenelg, Southern Grampians, Corangamite and Moyne - this project aims to ensure consistent, research-based messages, knowledge and language circulates within the community and across the whole region. This is essential to reducing mental ill health stigma, increasing mental health literacy and encouraging positive help-seeking behaviours.
Once trained, the community-based Instructors will work with local advisory groups, community and schools to implement Teen and Youth training across the Great South Coast.
The Teen Mental Health First Aid Course teaches secondary school students in years 7-9 and 10-12, how to provide mental health first aid to their friends. The course was developed in response to research indicating that young people prefer sharing problems with peers.
Youth Mental Health First Aid has been developed for adults working or living with adolescents (those aged between 12 and 18 years), however, the course can be relevant for those helping people who are a little younger or older. This course is particularly suitable for parents, carers, teachers, sports coaches, and youth workers.
Live4Life is the only mental health education and youth suicide prevention model designed specifically for rural and regional communities. With the continued upskilling of local community members, the Great South Coast region can be confident that there is much being done to build the regions capacity to support, improve and invest in their young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
If you are interested in finding out more about the opportunity to become a Mental Health First Aid Instructor please head to https://www.live4life.org.au/gsc-mhfa. Applications close 8am on Monday 26 April 2021.
This initiative has been developed from a partnership between Department of Health and Human Services, Western Victoria Primary Health Network, Youth Live4Life Ltd. and Great South Coast Suicide Prevention Place Based Trial.
For comment, contact: Bernard Galbally on 0413 167 843.
High resolution images of Live4Life’s programs can be downloaded here.
Live4Life’s Media Backgrounder can be viewed here.