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Mental Health First Aid, QPR, and CAP Programs

Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)

Just as CPR helps anyone save a life in a medical emergency, QPR is a simple educational program that teaches ordinary citizens how to recognize a mental health emergency and get a person at-risk the help they need.

In these trainings, certified QPR Gatekeeper Instructors teach the three steps anyone can learn to help prevent suicide: Question, Persuade, and Refer. In just 90 minutes, you can learn to save a life.

Goals of QPR Gatekeeper Training

  • Recognize the warning signs of suicide.
  • Learn how to offer and provide hope.
  • Learn how to provide help and save a life through Question, Persuade, and Refer skills.
  • Obtain resources available to help someone in crisis.

Training Audience

The more people trained in QPR, the more lives are saved. According to the Surgeon General’s National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (2001), a gatekeeper is someone in a position to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide.

Gatekeepers can be anyone, and include parents, friends, neighbors, professors, advisors, colleagues, teachers, ministers, doctors, nurses, office supervisors, police officers, caseworkers, firefighters, and many others who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide.

Register and Learn More

Option 1: Faculty and Staff

To register, visit our QPR registration page. Upcoming dates are listed on that page.

Option 2: Students

If you are a Miami University student or part of a student organization, please contact the HAWKS Peer Health Educators. HAWKS provide QPR trainings for students and student groups.

Option 3: Envision Partnerships

Envision Partnerships, in collaboration with the Butler County Suicide Prevention Coalition, offers free QPR trainings. To learn how to bring a QPR Gatekeeper Training to your workplace, school, place of worship, or civic organization, contact Kristen Smith at 513-868-2100 ext. 228 or ksmith@EnvisionPartnerships.com. Visit the event calendar.

Butler County Suicide Prevention Coalition logo

Questions

Please email Laura Wonsik at wonsiklc@MiamiOH.edu with questions.

Campus Assistance Program (CAP)

CAP presentations to academic departments and departmental staff meetings provide opportunities for Miami’s faculty and staff to learn how we, as a campus, can assist our students in emotional distress.

Your department/center can request a CAP presentation from SCS staff.

Our presentations typically are 60-90 minutes in length.

The goals of CAP include:

  • Educate our campus community about mental health issues facing our faculty, staff, and students.
  • Increase understanding of how psychosocial struggles impact students’ academic performance, class attendance, health, and behavior.
  • Assist faculty, staff, and students in identifying behaviors indicating a student may benefit from intervention.
  • Teach skills to reach out to students who feel isolated, marginalized, and are less likely to seek help for their distress.
  • Teach ways in which to offer and promote support services that best meet students’ needs.
  • Encourage consultation with student support services throughout the university and community about referrals and case management for identified students.

Participants will learn the following steps in how to assist students in need:

  1. Identify that the student is at risk
  2. Inquire by personally communicating your concerns and observations
  3. Encourage the student to seek help
  4. Refer the student to the appropriate service

For more information

Contact Laura Wonsik, MA, LPCC-S, Coordinator of the Mental Health Ally Program, at 513-529-4634 or wonsiklc@MiamiOH.edu.

Mental Health Ally Program

The Mental Health Ally Program (MHAP) helps faculty and staff gain confidence and competence to intervene with students' emotional and/or mental health concerns.The program includes training and consultation to build skills, comfort, experience, and knowledge around intervention, resources, and referral.

 
Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness Facility

Student Counseling Service

Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness Facility
421 South Campus Ave.
Oxford, Ohio 45056
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