More than one million Iowans live in areas where there aren’t enough mental health professionals to meet their needs. To address this issue, people across the state are participating in Mental Health First Aid to learn to recognize mental health risk factors and warning signs. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach trains adults in the workplace, as well as school and human services workers and other individuals who support Iowans and their families. Participants learn strategies on how to help people in crisis and non-crisis situations and where to seek help.
Struggling with mental health is often a challenge people face alone. Stigma around seeking care and lack of awareness about available resources create barriers that prevent people from seeking help. Combined with the fact that 57% of Iowa communities face a lack of access to mental health care, many Iowans are forced to manage depression and anxiety on their own.
Helping people get the care they need is Mental Health First Aid’s goal, according to David Brown, behavioral health state specialist for Iowa State University Extension & Outreach. “Iowa ranks 45th in the nation in terms of mental health providers per capita,” Brown said. “It’s important that Iowans proactively engage with those who are struggling.”
ISU Extension and Outreach has certified more than 2,200 individuals in Mental Health First Aid since 2018. ISU Extension and Outreach offers the program in partnership with organizations that provide community outreach, including the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
“Our goal is to train one in every 15 Iowans and reach every Iowan,” said Kimberly Cavalier, humanities specialist with Iowa State University’s Extension and Outreach Division. “We need to train many more people to bring mental health awareness to every corner of Iowa.”
The Iowa Department for the Blind has twice provided mental health first aid training to its employees, which Chief Information Officer Connie Mendenhall said is important for employees because their work extends beyond clients to their families and care teams.
“We meet a variety of people, and it’s not uncommon to encounter people in crisis situations, and this training makes us more aware of the things they don’t say,” she said. “I think we’re all listening to each other a little more carefully than we were before.”
Leland Smith, Resource Center Librarian for the Iowa Department of the Blind, said he was surprised to see how much information and services on mental health issues have changed. “Mental health affects everyone, so it’s valuable for everyone to have the tools and training to deal with situations when they arise and know what to do. We’re all human, we all have the same feelings and struggles,” Smith said. “It’s very simple and easy to understand, and it’s not something to be afraid of.”
Smith said the Mental Health First Aid training has opened new avenues of communication between employees at the Iowa Department for the Blind. “This training has had a huge impact on us as a team, allowing us to hear and share different stories and build greater understanding and openness within our agency,” Smith said. “We all encounter people in our lives who face barriers and challenges, and we are able to help them and direct them to the right resources.”
Brown said support for mental health issues has become even more important since the pandemic of 2020. “What we know right now is that the majority of people in Iowa and across the nation who are experiencing some type of substance use or mental health issue are not typically consulting with a mental health professional,” Brown said.
“Individuals don’t get the opportunity to get help because no one is offering it,” he added. “We need to be more proactive and get more people involved.”
Accessibility ensures equal access to mental health first aid
ISU Extension and Outreach Mental Health First Aid training for Iowa Department of the Blind employees shows how training materials, resources and tools can be tailored to meet specific audience engagement needs.
The two organizations worked together to make training materials accessible to screen readers, create Braille-compatible files, and enhance video content with audio enhancements. Humanities specialists from ISU Extension and Outreach teaching the classes tailored the learning experience to encourage participants to actively share their ideas and stories.
“Accessibility is about ensuring equal access for everyone, whether it’s a book, a website or a document,” says Sarah Willeford, director of the Iowa Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. “It means that anyone can sit down and use it without barriers. It doesn’t have to be difficult or fancy or expensive.”
