Offering campus mental health services into a multi-tiered system of support allows students, faculty, and staff to receive mental health awareness and the basics of behavioral health and wellness. The provision of mental health services can involve partnerships between IHEs and community health/mental health organizations and should be culturally and linguistically appropriate. Services integrated into existing campus programs, services, and strategies focus on the student population as a whole.
It is vital for IHEs to provide services and programming that meet the mental health needs of all campus community members, including students, faculty, and staff. IHEs must create safe, caring and enriching environments that foster healthy student development, positive academic outcomes, and strive to prevent and mitigate potential risks. Campus mental health services and tele-health programs allow mental health needs to be addressed without requiring students to seek off-campus support, which may be inaccessible due to financial, transportation, scheduling, or other barriers.
Addressing the mental health needs of college students enhances factors that increase their ability to succeed in and reduces factors that interfere with their academic success. Building social emotional capacities can also positively impact students’ mental health and academic outcomes. There is evidence that universal social and emotional learning interventions enhance young people’s social and emotional skills and reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in the short term. Campus mental health strategies have been shown to improve academic outcomes, reduce disciple referrals, increase graduation rates, increase student attendance and facilitate a positive school climate.
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