Grantee Types: Garrett Lee Smith Campus

Forefront, innovations in suicide prevention — a new Center of Excellence in suicide prevention located at the UW proposes to partner with key campus stakeholders to: (1) build capacity to identify, refer and treat at-risk (distressed) undergraduate and graduate students; (2) review and revise campus policies and programs to address the identification of at-risk students, suicide attempts, and death by suicide in light of national best practices. On college campuses, national attention to suicides has been growing. The incidence of suicide among college students is 7.5/100,000. Approximately, 10% of college students report suicidal ideation and nearly 2% make a suicide attempt. The setting for this proposal is the UW–a public university, the 13th largest in the US with nearly 40,000 students enrolled on its Seattle-based campus. The UW provides counseling to students who are struggling and has a track record of increasing the availability of mental health services when needed. While recognizing the importance of a broader public health approach to suicide using strategies and interventions that target broad audiences and specific high risk groups, the UW has heretofore not had that capacity. We propose Husky Help & Hope (HHH), whose program objectives over the 3 year grant period include: dissemination of suicide intervention gatekeeper training, both in-person and on-line, to approximately 2000 campus faculty and staff; on-campus professional development trainings for 300 professional students and mental health counselors in suicide assessment and treatment; workshops for 150 journalism students and local journalists on responsible reporting about suicide; engaging key campus stakeholders to do strategic planning based on outcomes and to review and revise campus policies and; a web-based resource that provides an anonymous depression screening tool, mental health and suicide prevention resources to students, parents, staff, and faculty, and information about available help including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; and partnership with student groups around mental health promotion. A multi-pronged evaluation of HHH is proposed that will inform the suicide prevention field. It includes pre-post analysis of: student mental health service utilization, perceived competence knowledge, skills, and satisfaction after gatekeeper and professional development trainings, the suicide prevention climate on campus, and the quality of news coverage about suicide on the UW campus and within the Seattle community. Forefront collaborators and campus stakeholders will interpret and publish the evaluation results in academic journals. Sustainability of HHH on the UW campus will be accomplished through the revision of institutional policies. Outcome data will inform the continuation of HHH programs on campus.

The University of Utah (UU) Counseling Center plans to address suicide prevention by accomplishing the following goals: 1) improving on-campus gatekeeper skill in risk assessment and protective factor referral making; 2) measuring efficiency and quality of protective factor referral making on-campus; 3) developing online materials for target populations that address warning signs of suicide, address specific cultural related issues, promote help-seeking behavior, and reduce stigma associated with care seeking; 4) developing online materials for families of UU students that increase awareness of risk and protective factors for suicide; and 5) increasing UU student awareness and use of protective factors available on campus.

Commuter students, students living on campus in Residential Living facilities, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT ) students are the target populations chosen, based on survey data culled from two separate survey instruments administered on campus during the past year. The data indicate that these populations have high levels of risk factors associated with suicide.

Methods of achieving our goals include: Activity 1) gatekeeper training; Activity 2) creation of uniform forms for tracking and making protective factor referrals; Activity 3) content development for online materials for target populations; Activity 4) content development for online materials for families of UU students; and Activity 5) a professional promotion campaign.

While there are well-established clinical and emergency protocols for UU students in crisis, the campus community currently has no uniform suicide prevention training or response protocol for service delivery offices on campus. This project will help fill this critical gap in services. The Counseling Center is well positioned to conduct this project, using previous outreach work and coalition formation as a foundation. In 2000, Counseling Center and Office of Health Promotion staff formed the Wellness Network (Network) by inviting over 20 campus offices, departments, and groups to meet on a regular basis. The purpose of the Network is to improve communication between departments that serve students and coordinate and share resources, so that services will be provided more effectively, and redundancies and gaps in services minimized.

The Network has enjoyed successful interaction over the past five years and supports this application and proposed activities. Network members include a comprehensive group of UU student service providers: Academic Advising, Associated Student of UU, Center for Ethnic Student Affairs, Counseling Center, Dean of Students, Disability Services, Health Promotion and Education, International Center, Learning Enhancement Program, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center, and many others.

With historical success and effective inter-office collaboration as its foundation, this project and its proposed activities will reduce suicide and suicide risk factors by increasing the availability and accessibility of protective factors for UU students.

The purpose of this project is to develop a sustainable campus infrastructure at The University of the South, rooted in the two continua model of mental health and illness (Keyes, 2007), designed to promote suicide prevention and enhance student mental health and flourishing. While flourishing is most commonly associated with individual health, a public health approach based on this model will seek to enhance not just individual flourishing, but collective flourishing by involving the community as a whole in the work of suicide prevention. Sense of belonging and social connection are important predictors of both well-being and flourishing (Keyes, 2007) and decrease risk for suicide and mental illness (Keyes et al., 2012). Sewanee Flourish seeks to improve student mental health and cultivate student flourishing by accomplishing the goals outlined below, and plans to pay special attention to at-risk student groups (LGBTQIA students, students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and male-identified students).

The goals of Sewanee Flourish are:

(1) to conduct a qualitative needs assessment of at-risk students,
(2) to develop a Wellness Task Force to activate the campus community in the work of suicide prevention,
(3) to increase the number of faculty, staff, and students trained as gatekeepers,
(4) to develop educational workshops and interventions to enhance student flourishing and resilience,
(5) to develop a social marketing campaign to increase awareness of crisis resources, and
(6) to develop accessible resources for families to promote mental health and flourishing and to increase awareness about the development of mental illness and suicide risk during college.

The anticipated overarching outcomes of Sewanee Flourish are the development of a sustainable campus infrastructure designed to identify and respond to students in distress, to reduce barriers to help-seeking among students, and to promote and improve student mental health and flourishing. All project goals will be systematically assessed to evaluate the impact of Sewanee Flourish on suicide prevention.

The University of Texas at San Antonio Counseling Services proposed project, Siempre Mañana (There’s Always Tomorrow) is intended to develop a comprehensive and far-reaching program that addresses suicide prevention at a micro and macro level by providing suicide awareness and referral training to non-mental health faculty and staff, peer educators, other student activity program leaders, and parents. In addition, it is intended to strengthen our ability to connect with emergency referrals, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the UTSA Crisis Helpline and the Veterans Crisis Line, local hospitals, and treatment centers.

Given the unique needs of a fast growing and large Hispanic-serving institution where many are first-generation students, we intend to develop prevention programming in both English and Spanish. This will allow students with “limited English proficiency” and their families to feel connected culturally and access supportive networks on campus and in our community. Also, San Antonio, Texas is known as “Military City, USA,” with a very strong presence of local service members and military installations. Enrollment of veterans and their dependents at UTSA jumped 64% from 2009 to 2011, from 1,600 to 2,700 students. This high-risk population will be a specific initiative within the program, developing tailored approaches to serve the unique needs of the campus’ military, veteran, and military family students.

The goals for Siempre Mañana are to: (1) develop training for administrators, faculty, staff, and peer educators with a focus on substance abuse and suicide awareness and prevention; (2) develop culturally sensitive outreach presentations to students on issues including depression, substance abuse, and suicide; and (3) promote the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Veterans Crisis Line, and the UTSA Crisis Helpline Program evaluation will utilize objective measures including: pre and post-tests to assess knowledge acquired through training, programming, and other outreach strategies as well as attendance counts for outreach programs and website visits. Subjective measures, including anonymous evaluations and surveys, will be employed to assess the quality and personal impact of the project activities. Focus group meetings will be held post training events to collect data and determine the moderate term impact of the trainings, and the impact of PQR training on participants’ perceptions of their abilities to effectively participate in crisis intervention.

Located in rural West Tennessee, the University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin) proposes Project Safety-Networking, Education, and Training (NET) to enhance the continuum of care provided to at-risk students.  Formalizing current response plans internally and with external agencies will buttress weaknesses identified by Student Health and Counseling Services and the Students of Concern (SoC) Team.  Project Safety-NET will serve students at the main campus and the four, extended campus.  All students (8,000) will benefit from this project, with special training and outreach targeted for three specific populations:  Veterans, international students, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students. 

Safety-NET proposes to meet 3 goals:
Goal 1: increase awareness of suicide risk factors, prevention and resources through evidence-based training.
Obj.1.1:  YR1, develop programs for specific high-risk student populations. 
Obj. 1.2:  YR3, train 10 faculty and/or staff as Certified Gatekeeper Instructors.
Obj. 1.3:  YR2, develop/distribute materials addressing warning signs of suicide, the NSPL and a list of campus and community resources and services available.
Obj. 1.4:  YR2/YR3, implement, two, targeted educational programs per semester for high-risk student populations.
Obj. 1.5:  YR3, offer QPR Gatekeeper training 3 times/semester by developing a priority list of faculty, staff, and student groups.
Obj. 1.6:  YR3, develop and distribute information on NSPL and a list of campus/community resources and services.

Goal 2: strengthen existing infrastructure among UT Martin staff and faculty and community resources to enhance access to mental health services.
Obj. 2.1:  YR1, improve collaboration on campus through a review of campus policies and make recommendations based on data analysis and best practices.
Obj. 2.2:  YR1, refine the SoC Team reporting and tracking system to identify students of concern prior to those students transitioning into crisis.
Obj.2.3:  YR1, establish communication procedures with local mental health care providers regarding protocols and resources. 
Obj. 2.4: YR1, meet with UT Martin Emergency Management Coordinator regarding procedures for campus response to suicidal students.
Obj. 2.5:  YR3, detailed suicide response procedures will be incorporated into UT Martin Emergency Management Plan.
Obj. 2.6:  YR1, sign a minimum of 1 MOU with local mental health provider to improve mental health of UT Martin students.
Obj. 2.7:  YR2, sign a minimum of 1 additional MOU with local mental health provider.
Obj. 2.8:  YR3, sign a minimum of 1 additional MOU with local mental health.

Goal 3: increase number of seminars/informational materials for campus and family members on suicide prevention, identification and reduction of risk factors. 
Obj. 3.1:  By YR1, create a website that is informative and educational regarding mental health concerns, suicide prevention, risk factors, and available resources.
Obj. 3.2: YR2/YR3, update website to reflect new information and resources.
Obj. 3.3:  YR3, provide at least 1 educational seminar regarding suicide/semester.

The VolAware Suicide Prevention Initiative will target students with a mental health condition, students under 21, males, LGBT students, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. The activities will target the campus; however, media, the internet, and e-mail will allow social marketing messages and educational literature to reach parents/families, commuter students, and students studying abroad. Critical first responders and gatekeepers will be trained in QPR.

The objective of the project will be achieved through six activities: (1) First Responder QPR training; (2) Gatekeeper QPR training, designed for those who can play a critical role in identifying and referring at-risk students, (3) in-service training to augment the knowledge and skills of mental health professionals on campus, (4) professional development training for University of Tennessee (UT) student affairs staff to build basic skills at identifying and referring at-risk students; (5) development and dissemination of informational literature for parents/families of UT students to educate them about mental health issues; and (6) a coordinated social marketing campaign targeted at undergraduate studentsâ€‖ preferred media (radio stations, campus newspaper, posters) with a goal of raising awareness, decreasing stigma, and promoting help seeking.

The University of Southern Maine suicide prevention program, USM CARES, will provide broad-based suicide prevention initiatives for the three campuses (Portland, Gorham, and Lewiston Auburn). There will be three main initiatives targeting the approximately 9,000 traditional and nontraditional students. The three targeted areas will include building a Student Support Network, training for faculty and staff in suicide prevention, and web-based services. USM will implement a Student Support Program. This program will identify the natural student helpers and teach skills of early identification, knowledge of resources, and helping and communication skills. The component will enhance helping behaviors, promote student-to-student engagement, and reduce suicidal risk. It will also increase civility and build protective factors in the community. The program will focus on a number or affinity groups with special attention to the veteran student group and the GLBTQ community. The Student Support Program is based on the work of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and is considered a National Best Practice.Faculty and staff will be trained to identify, intervene, and refer students at-risk to Counseling Services and other mental health care providers as appropriate. Two different trainings will be developed to meet the varying needs of participants. The goal of this training is to increase knowledge of suicidal risk factors and to increase intervention skills. Participants will also gain specific knowledge regarding the importance of engagement in building protective factors and reducing suicidal risk. The training model will be based on Maine Youth Suicide Program and University of Maine Orono training models. They were both previous recipients of SAMHSA grants.Web-based services will be expanded. The grant will focus on expansion of the internet-based Interactive Screening Program (ISP) currently in place. The goal of the ISP is early identification and self-referral of students not previously recognized as engaging in self-destructive harmful behavior. The component is considered a best practice and is supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We will also create a separate website for USM CARES and included specific information regarding mental health issues for faculty and parents.Over the three year duration of the grant staff and faculty will be trained in 30 department meetings (10 per year), plus 130 staff and faculty receiving advanced training, ISP will be offered to all 9,000 students (at least 3,000 per year) and 150 (30 first year, 60 each year, 2nd and 3rd years) will be trained in the Student Support Program.