The Wellness Outreach Office has partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to provide a year of free suicide prevention training through a grant from the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health.

Campus Mental Health Day 2019, Oct. 8, starts off the year of free training with leaders that support our larger campus community. More training will be available to all students and further faculty and staff following this date.

“We appreciate the concern faculty and staff have for the well-being of students and recognize the central role that they play in linking students to campus resources,” says Ashley Vodarek, mental health and wellness co-ordinator.

This first day of training has been reserved for faculty, staff, and student staff as they are often a critical factor in helping students resolve problems that are interfering with daily functioning and academic achievement.

To further support faculty and staff in their efforts to support students in distress, the Wellness Outreach Office has created a webpage of helpful resources which can be used inside and outside of the classroom, including an infographic on how to have a supportive conversation about any concerns, Blackboard posts and PowerPoint slides containing wellness resources, and links for further reading. View this site made especially for faculty and staff here.

Faculty, staff, and student staff may join the project on Campus Mental Health Day by signing up for these two offerings:

1. safeTALK: Suicide Prevention (offered 9 a.m. to noon or 1 to 4 p.m.)
   A three-hour certificate training facilitated by the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex that prepares helpers to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources. This presentation covers the TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe.
2. Identifying and Supporting Students in Distress (offered 10 a.m. to noon)
   A two-hour training session presented by Mohsan Beg, executive director of the Student Health, Counselling and Wellness Centre, that prepares faculty and staff to recognize mental health concerns and support students by connecting them to resources on campus and in the community. This presentation covers the prevention and action model on how to ask, support, refer, and follow up.

To sign up for training times and to view further details about these trainings, visit the registration page. For more information on these training opportunities, contact: wellness@uwindsor.ca or call 519-253-3000, ext. 4635.