WINNIPEG (MB.) September 10, 2020 – Today is World Suicide Prevention Day—an awareness day observed every September 10 in order to support worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides – let’s start the conversation.
The Canadian Mental Health Association Manitoba and Winnipeg (“CMHA”) has partnered with LivingWorks Education to promote a new, online training program that helps community members to have important conversations about mental health, thoughts about suicide, and life promotion.
“Start” teaches individuals to recognize warning signs of suicide in others and how to take meaningful action to keep them safe and connected to community resources, even from afar. The training program takes 90 minutes to complete online and includes options for personal customizations, realistic simulations, and interactive content.
CMHA has a long history of offering community-based suicide prevention training and education but, because of COVID-19 restrictions, in-person suicide-care trainings like SafeTALK have not been readily available. To adapt to these new realities, CMHA is working in partnership with LivingWorks Education (LWE) to offer ‘Start’ training to the public at a reduced cost. In addition, LWE is donating a percentage of the proceeds from registration fees back to CMHA to help support local suicide prevention efforts.
Executive director, Marion Cooper says, “Right now, many of us are concerned about others -we’re worried about mental health issues. We need to have effective skills to watch over our friends, family, and co-workers to keep them safe. ‘Start’ does an excellent job of teaching these skills in a dynamic and engaging way.”
“Conversations about mental health and suicide can be challenging and avoided by many for that reason”, says Ela Partyka, Program Director. “Start is easy to use and understand tool which teaches how to engage in dialogue. Having this skill not only reduces stigma and isolation but can also save lives.”
For more information about “Start”, please visit CMHA’s website at:
https://mbwpg.cmha.ca/programs-services/community-and-workplace-education/learn-life-saving-skills-with-livingworks-start/.
About the Canadian Mental Health Association
Founded in 1918, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is the most established, most extensive community mental health organization in Canada. Through a presence in more than 330 communities across every province and one territory, CMHA provides advocacy, programs and resources that help to prevent mental health problems and illnesses, support recovery and resilience, and enable all Canadians to flourish and thrive. For more information, visit www.cmha.ca.
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Lynn Russell
204-982-6141
lrussell@cmhawpg.mb.ca