The grant was awarded by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction and originates from the Indiana Problem Gambler’s Assistance Fund and the federal Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant.
The IPRC will use the grant to take a new approach toward preventing addiction. The IPRC will develop programs that focus on mental health promotion by researching and recommending evidence-based mental health promotion programs to certain Indiana communities, according to an IU news release.
“We’ll be helping communities assess their strengths and weaknesses,” Barbara Seitz De Martinez, IPRC deputy director, said in an IU news release. “We will hold workshops, train people to increase their readiness to carry out successful evidence-based programs and help them to implement those programs with fidelity.”
This new emphasis on mental health reflects a change in focus from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The administration has shifted their prevention techniques toward suicide prevention and deaths among high-risk ?populations.
In November, the administration published results from the 2013 national survey on drug use and mental health. The survey found that 25.4 percent of men and 12.8 percent of women who were dependent on illicit drugs or alcohol also had a mental illness.
The survey also reported on the mental health of the youth, ages 12 to 17, and the treatment that was given. Most youths that had mental health disorders reached out to a non-speciality service within their schools.
In response to these results, the IPRC has begun hosting a free Mental Health First Aid course for public education institutes.
Participants will learn the five-step strategy to perform in crisis situations.
Participants are informed to do the following while waiting for professional help: assess risk, respectfully listen to and ?support the individual in crisis and identify the appropriate professional help, according to the Mental Health First Aid website.
“The IPRC has worked with the Division of Mental Health and Addiction for 27 years to provide prevention services,” IPRC Executive Director Ruth Gassman said in an IU news release. “But this is the first time the IPRC has been called upon to pilot integrated services including mental health promotion programs in communities across the state.”
In addition to mental health disorder prevention, the IPRC is affiliated with the Indiana Institute for Research on Addictive Behavior. The IPRC provides prevention and treatment centers for substance abuse and gambling addictions.
Lindsay Moore
