MHFA: Supporting Older Adults
Support mental wellness in later life
Help older adults navigate mental health challenges with understanding and support.
MHFA Supporting Older Adults gives participants the practical knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognize changes in mental health, start supportive conversations, and respond to declining mental well-being or mental health crises. The course uses older adult-specific scenarios, discussions, activities, and evidence-informed practices to place MHFA skills within the context of aging and later life.
MHFA: Supporting Older Adults
Why Supporting Older Adults
Older adults experience circumstances related to aging, health changes, caregiving responsibilities, grief and loss, social isolation, or transitions in independence. This course helps participants recognize these experiences and respond with empathy and practical support.
Geriatric Certificate Program
MHFA Supporting Older Adults is an elective course within the Geriatric Certificate Program and is open to both the Regulated and Non-Regulated Education Streams.
Who is it for? Family members, caregivers, health and social service professionals, volunteers, community workers, and anyone who regularly supports older adults.
Through the course, participants will learn to:
Recognize changes
Identify indicators of declining mental health or crisis and understand factors affecting mental well-being later in life.
Explore supports
Discuss professional, community, family, and social supports that contribute to recovery, resilience, and mental well-being.
Start supportive conversations
Approach an older adult with empathy, listen without judgment, and create space for conversations about mental health and well-being.
Respond to crisis situations
Apply Mental Health First Aid actions to support older adults experiencing suicidal thoughts, crisis situations, or significant declines in mental health.
Course structured for impact
The six-hour, facilitator-led course combines scenarios, discussion, and activities to build practical Mental Health First Aid skills for supporting older adults. Participants explore these topics:
Mental health and aging
How aging, health changes, and life transitions relate to mental well-being.
Mental Health Continuum
Recognizing optimal, declining, and poor mental health and changes in well-being.
Stigma and respectful communication
Recognizing stigma, reflecting on assumptions, and using respectful language.
Recovery-oriented support
Providing reassurance and identifying professional, community, family, and social supports.
ALGES and declining mental health
Applying the ALGES framework to scenarios involving declining mental well-being.
Suicide awareness and response
Recognizing suicide warning signs and applying MHFA actions in crisis situations.
Listening and supportive conversations
Practising empathetic listening, effective questions, and non-judgmental communication.
Self-care for first aiders
Building reflective, purposeful self-care practices and healthy boundaries.
Learn how to use ALGES
ALGES is the Mental Health First Aid action framework. Participants practise using it to support older adults experiencing declining mental health or crisis situations.
- A - Approach the person, assess, and assist with any crisis
- L - Listen and communicate non-judgmentally
- G - Give reassurance and information
- E - Encourage the person to reach out to supports
- S - Self-care for the first aider
Course format and live delivery options
- Virtual classes: Live, facilitator-led sessions for 8 to 15 participants
- In-person classes: Live, facilitator-led sessions for 8 to 25 participants
Duration: Six hours of live instructional time, excluding mandatory breaks.
Schedule: Complete the course in one day or in two sessions within a two-week period. The course uses the same group and delivery format throughout.
Preparation: No self-paced online module or pre-work is required.
Certificate: Participants who complete the full course receive a certificate of participation. This course does not lead to MHFA Certification.
Participant resources: Participants receive a course handout and have access to the Opening Minds Resource Hub.
Mental Health First Aid Training Options
When training reflects real experiences from a community, the impact becomes even more meaningful. In addition to MHFA: Supporting Older Adults, we offer a suite of tailored MHFA courses.
Become a Certified MHFA Facilitator
The Facilitator Certification Training is designed for people who want to offer the MHFA course in communities, workplaces or organizations. As a Certified MHFA facilitator, you will join the Opening Minds Facilitator Community that is over 2000 people strong across Canada.
Mental Health First Aid Case Studies
Learn more about how MHFA is helping to transform mental wellness in organizations across Canada.
