Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Training

• To maintain personal boundaries in both scenarios, staff should never post their address on public social media forums.
• Staff can maintain personal boundaries by meeting in a neutral public location, such as a coffee store.

• Items to take into consideration involves:
  • Client confidentiality
  • Client’s comfort level in terms of sharing (is you being there going to impact their therapeutic experience)
  • Client and Colleague perceptions (are you favouriting the client? Ignoring them?)
  • Level of Relationship (are you really close with your neighbor or cousin?)
  • Boundaries of Professional relationship – Your role does not carry out into the environment after detox (ex: seeking nursing services after discharge).
• In any case, it is important to maintain professionalism and as outlined in the Standard of Conduct policy, and to disclose any perceived, potential and actual Conflict of Interest with your supervisor. Together you can navigate next steps based on the above listed factors.

• Maintaining confidentiality is the utmost priority in this situation. Like many of the other scenarios, wait until the client has acknowledged you. Allow the opportunity for the client engaging in conversation first. Ensure your body language is open and inviting for conversation, to show the former client that you are welcome to talk in the event they wish to.
• If the client wants to engage in conversation, allow them the opportunity to lead the discussion and disclose their relationship with you to others should they so choose. If they do not, maintain the relationship as if this is your first time meeting.
• In any event, you are never expected to engage in a conversation with a client(s) if you are not comfortable doing so outside of the workplace.
• When you feel comfortable doing so, you can excuse yourself from the gathering.
• Please keep in mind that when alcohol is involved, it puts everyone in a very difficult situation. It is recommended that you leave the situation if the other party is giving no indication of doing so themselves.

• Maintaining confidentiality is the utmost priority in this situation. Like many of the other scenarios, wait until the client has acknowledged you. Allow the opportunity for the client greet you first, before engaging in conversation. Ensure your body language is open and inviting for conversation, to show the former client that you are welcome to talk in the event they wish to.
• If the client wants to engage in conversation, allow them the opportunity to lead the discussion and disclose their relationship with you to others should they so choose.
• In any event, you are never expected to engage in a conversation with a client(s) if you are not comfortable doing so outside of the workplace.

• If the pop-up request was out of the blue, it is safe to say that accepting is not in everyone’s best interests. They are only friending you due to your relationship, which status has always been client and staff.
• If the request was made due to overlapping in social lives, it is staff’s discretion as to whether they feel it is appropriate to accept the request.

• Once again, in any scenario involving a colleague, it is important to get all the facts before reporting a concern. Respectfully inquire with your colleague; for example, indicating that you’ve noticed they have been spending a lot of time with a certain client and ask if there is a particular reason why so that you, or the rest of the team, can provide better care.
• In the event there seems to be no clear indication as to why this client is receiving more attention than other clients, respectfully bring your concerns to your colleague. Share with them what you see and discuss your concerns. If your colleague is not responsive to your concerns, bring forward your concerns to your supervisor. In the event that you report this situation or any situation involving a colleague to their supervisor, you may be required to submit your complaint in writing.

• In any scenario involving a colleague, it is important to get all the facts before reporting a concern. Inquire with the colleague as to why they’ve distributed their contact information to the client. A response may be that the client is the manager for your colleague kid’s sports team and she needed to provide the information to the client to be set-up with the team’s account.
• After connecting with your colleague to get all the facts, if you feel the response is inappropriate and breaches staff/client boundaries, staff are encourage to share with their colleague setting personal boundaries with clients. If the colleague is dismissive of the advice, you can inform them that you may report your concerns to their supervisor. In the event that you report this situation or any situation involving a colleague to their supervisor, you may be required to submit your complaint in writing.

• In this scenario, acknowledging the client is appropriate. You can give a nod, a wave, a brief hello, a smile. Proximity assists in this scenario as you are not ignoring the client but you are in an environment where you could easily remove yourself if you do not wish to engage your personal life (family) with the client.
• In the event the client makes a motion to come over, it is recommended that you separate yourself from your family if at all possible and meet/greet the client in neutral ground. You can then meet the needs of the client, maintain professionalism and your personal boundaries.
• In the event the client is closer than across the room and you do not have the opportunity to separate yourself from your family, you can greet the client, exchange pleasantries but try to ensure your personal boundaries are still maintained. This includes limiting where you are flying to, details about your family (as much as possible), and focusing the conversation as much as you can back onto the client.
• In all scenarios, the importance is ensuring your personal boundaries are still established, but you are not ignoring or disrespecting someone who is taking the time to acknowledge you.

• Maintaining confidentiality is the utmost priority in this situation. The client’s wife may or may not know this client was under our care in the past. Allow the opportunity for the client greet you first, before engaging in conversation. Ensure your body language is open and inviting for conversation, to show the former client that you are welcome to talk in the event they wish to.
• If the client wants to engage in conversation, allow them the opportunity to lead the discussion and disclose their relationship with you to their significant other should they so choose.
• In any event, you are never expected to engage in a conversation with a client(s) if you are not comfortable doing so outside of the workplace.

Assuming an absolutist stance, the cook may decide to go to a meeting where clients are unlikely to attend.

The Cook may make the best of an awkward situation, stay at the meeting, and be selective about what experiences to share, maintaining some boundary with the client. But while the cook may be modeling the importance of attending meetings for the client, he or she may be deprived of a full personal experience.

The Cook may decide to participate fully, which is a risk he or she may feel comfortable managing.

Any option is acceptable provided they are given thoughtful analysis and the Cook can justify his or her decision based on foreseeable risk.