Transcript Mental Health Support Challenge for Small Colleges (PPT)

Mental Health Support
Challenge for Small Colleges
Andrea Conner
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
Grinnell College
Agenda
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Introduction
Student needs for mental health services at Grinnell
Framework of wellness and prevention
Future research questions
Student Needs for Mental Health Services
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Increased demand
• Stress, rigor, and availability for “brief therapy” only; more students have access to
higher ed than decades ago
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Increased complexity
• Diagnoses and prescriptions in hand as access to mental health providers increases
earlier in life; access
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Decrease in providers, on- and off-campus
• Especially in rural areas of our state and region
Student Needs, continued
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Decrease in stigma +
increase in awareness
Demand for services in an activist framework
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Increased expectations for all-inclusive service from a residential liberal
arts college
• “We are not an inpatient treatment facility!”
Framework of Wellness and Prevention
• When fully staffed, we can do more outreach and education on
wellness, substance abuse, and violence prevention
• Other student affairs/academic advising staff need good training to be
conversant in supporting students with normal developmental
concerns (e.g. identity exploration, loneliness, transition)
• Partnerships with disability resources, wellness, TIX and violence
prevention, academic advising, and residence life are critical
Future Research Questions
• Usually, we rely on the best practices of our field to discern who
should intervene, and how.
Can we make evidence-based decisions on which interventions to
apply?
• Universally, colleges seek an outcome of graduating students at the
greatest rate possible.
Can we make evidence-based decisions on when the occasional
attrition is actually better for the student?