Mental Health Toolkit

According to the World Health Organization, mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It is an integral part of health and there is no health without mental health. Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to contribute to his or her community. The term well-being includes the presence of positive emotions and moods (e.g., contentment, happiness), the absence of negative emotions (e.g., depression, anxiety), satisfaction with life, fulfillment, and positive functioning.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes it is important to remember that a person’s mental health can change over time, depending on many factors. When the demands placed on a person exceed their resources and coping abilities, their mental health could be impacted. While 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime, everyone faces challenges in life that can impact their mental health. More than half of people with a mental health condition in the U.S. did not receive any treatment in the last year.

Mental Health and Well-being

Fact Sheets

Active Listening – The most common communication problem is not listening. To listen effectively, we must do more than just hear what is being said. We must be engaged and practice the four rules of active listening. Active listening is all about building rapport, understanding, and trust.
Stress Awareness: Learning to Relax – We are all familiar with the word “stress.” It’s synonymous with change. Anything that causes a change in your life can cause stress, regardless of whether it is a positive or negative change. It is important to recognize when you’re feeling stressed, how stress can affect your body and health, and learn positive ways to reduce or cope with your stress.
Ten Elements of Verbal De-escalation – Using the ten elements of verbal de-escalation improves patient and staff safety, increases staff satisfaction, and reduces use of force and occurrence of violence.
Work & Life Balance – Daily stressors are a given in life. Burnout, however, is more than daily stress and it is important to recognize the early warning signs, identify ways to mitigate, and the importance of recognizing three good things each day.
Work & Life Balance Pocket Tip Cards
NAMI Indiana State Fact Sheet
What You Can Do for Depression – This resource provides a list of things you can do to cope with your symptoms of depression and improve your quality of life.
Depression Goal Setting – Repeatedly doing things you used to enjoy, even when you don’t feel like it, can help your depression. Write a goal down, cut out the card provided, and keep it with you to remind and motivate you when feeling depressed.
Mental Health Emergency – It’s important to know that warning signs are not always present when a mental health crisis is developing. This resource describes the warning signs of a mental health crisis, what to do in a mental health crisis, techniques that may help de-escalate a crisis, and how to respond to unusual behavior.
What is Depression – Depression is very common. It’s not just feeling down or sad. It’s a mixture of feelings and actions that a person has that makes up depression. This resource highlights a few things to know about depression and ways to help manage your symptoms and again do the things in life that you enjoy.
Good Mental Health is Ageless – A healthy mind is as important as a healthy body. However, being in good mental health doesn’t mean that you’ll never feel sad, lonely, or “down.” This resource highlights some situations that may prompt feelings of sadness or depression, behavior changes that may suggest emotional problems, and things you can do if depression or other changes in your behavior last longer than two weeks.
Tips for Supporting Employee Mental Health – Work can be stressful, and so can homelife. When they interact and overlap, as they do in a work-from-home arrangement, we may find ourselves feeling overwhelmed. Within this booklet you will find tips on how to identify if someone at work is experiencing stress, anxiety, or depression; when and how to provide support; resources available at the national level; and tools that can be used for social media, emails, and newsletters.
Tips for Healthcare Professionals: Coping with Stress and Compassion Fatigue – This tip sheet explores stress and compassion fatigue, as well as signs of distress after a disaster. It identifies ways to cope and enhance resilience, along with resources for more information and support.
Key Ingredients for Successful Trauma-Informed Care Implementation
Key Ingredients for Trauma-Informed Care
Take Care of Yourself as a Caregiver
How to Manage Trauma Infographic
Health Equity Journey

Toolkits

A Guide to Promoting Health Care Workforce Well-Being During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic – This guide from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement aims to support health care leaders at all levels with actionable tools for combating health care workforce burnout, fatigue, and emotional distress and is aligned with the IHI Framework for Improving Joy in Work. (To access this content on ihi.org, you will need to log-in or register for an account.)
Burnout in Primary Care: Assessing and Addressing it in Your Practice
Compassion in Action: A Guide for Faith Communities Serving People with Mental Illness and Their Caregivers (2020) – This guide was developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives (HHS Partnership Center) to help faith leaders from all religious and spiritual traditions, as well as their congregants, with a goal of increasing awareness and building capacity to serve people in their midst experiencing mental illness, and to care well for their family and/or caregivers. This guide is organized as seven key principles that offer a way for leaders to address mental illness in their community and to identify the small steps they can take to put their compassion into action.
Navigating a Mental Health Crisis | NAMI
Mental Health Awareness Month Toolkit | SAMHSA
Navigating A Mental Health Crisis – This booklet from National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) describes the parameters of what to do to get help in a crisis.
Physical Activity Breaks for the Workplace Resource Guide, May 2021 – This guide from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encourages everyone to “Move more and sit less” by reducing sedentary time and being physically active throughout the day. It provides many resources and ideas to help employees build short (5–10-minute) activity breaks into their workdays.
Strength in Communities: 2021 Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month Toolkit – Building on the work of visionary Bebe Moore Campbell, Mental Health America (MHA) developed this toolkit that highlights alternative mental health supports created by BIPOC and QTBIPOC communities of color, for BIPOC and QTBIPOC communities of color. The toolkit explores three topic areas: community care, self-directed care, and culturally-based practices.
Support for Health Care Providers – Mental Health (va.gov) – This toolkit is a resource for health care professionals working with Veterans outside of the VA health care system and offers information and tools relevant to Veterans’ mental health and well-being.
Your Healthiest Self: Wellness Toolkits | National Institutes of Health (NIH) – Because each person’s “healthiest self” is different, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has developed a variety of toolkits to help individuals find ways to improve well-being related to areas such as surroundings, feelings, body, relationships, and disease prevention. (Spanish Version)
Trauma-Informed Care Toolkit | Center to Advance Palliative Care
Practical Guide for Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach