To address the increasing mental health care and well-being needs of college students today, the non-profit American College Health Foundation (ACHF) and UnitedHealthcare StudentResources are collaborating to launch a new initiative.
Starting next month, the partners will come together to push for research into innovative campus mental health care and well-being services on various campuses.
As part of the initiative, a new “National College WellStart Program” will take shape. The program will bring together college mental health experts to create a comprehensive training program for incoming first-year students, focusing on how to maintain positive psychology and successfully adjusting to their new environments.
“With the rise in the number of students coming to campus with a variety of mental health issues, many colleges and universities are struggling to meet the increasing demand for mental health services,” Devin Jopp, executive director of ACHF, said.
“This new program will identify and share best practices and techniques that can be used to help meet this demand, and provide a much-needed resource for schools looking to build innovative solutions to ensure their students’ mental health and well-being.”
A “National College Well-Being and Depression Playbook,” providing information on best practices and case studies on how colleges are building cultures of well-being, will also be created during the partnership.
“Our partnership with The American College Health Foundation enables us to identify innovative and effective methods that colleges can use to treat mental illness on campus as well as evidence-based programs that can help students flourish,” Bill Truxal, president of UnitedHealthcare StudentResources, said.
Recently, many universities across the nation have been focusing more on student mental health and well-being. Last month, the University of Kentucky created a task force comprised of senior officials to review its mental health counseling services provided to students on campus.
Last year, in a similar move, Brown University announced plans to build a state-of-the-art comprehensive health and wellness center to provide physical, mental and emotional care services to its university community as well.
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