Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) seeks support to enhance campus efforts that address suicide awareness and prevention. Through an interdisciplinary collaboration among the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology (CNEP), College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CONHS), and University Counseling Center (UCC), the Islander Suicide Prevention through Education, Awareness, and Knowledge (I-SPEAK) will develop a comprehensive plan to support expanded efforts aimed at improving student mental health and wellness while concomitantly ending the stigma surrounding mental illness. Results of our proposed work include creating a network infrastructure that will link students struggling with serious mental illness and/or substance abuse, and therefore at greater risk for suicide, with appropriate and responsive campus and community-based resources.
Populations served: The I-SPEAK project will target all TAMU-CC faculty, staff, and students; however, herein we place a particular emphasis on supporting individuals who self-identify with Hispanic, LGBTQA+, and post-traditional learner communities. We target these specific communities based on their identification as populations at increased risk for debilitating mental health issues, while also being far less likely to utilize available services due to attitude, stigma, and/or logistical barriers. Overall, TAMU-CC, a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS), is home to nearly 11,000 students. In fall 2020, student demographics reflected a community that was 47.9% Hispanic, 37.2% White, 5.7% Black or African American, and 2.6% International. Most students (59.4%) are classified as underrepresented minorities and/or socioeconomically disadvantaged, and nearly half (49.1%) are first-generation college students. Given significant behavioral healthcare workforce shortages in Nueces county (home of TAMU-CC), creating a service network focused on meeting the needs of students who lack access to other resources in times of crisis addresses a significant critical need.
Strategies/Interventions: The I-SPEAK project will (a) form a campus/community suicide prevention task force dedicated to the establishment of a comprehensive campus suicide prevention plan; (b) develop a campus anti-stigma campaign and create a series of interactive campus wellness zones in order to increase mental health awareness, acceptance, and treatment referral; (c) organize and host an annual mental health and wellness fair linking the campus with the community that will provide mental health and substance use screenings; (d) provide emotion regulation/resiliency training to students; (e) sponsor campus Safe ZONE training; and (f) engage students/faculty/staff in “gatekeeper” training.
Goals and Objectives: Employing the above strategies, I-SPEAK will; (a) enhance mental health services for all TAMU-CC students; (b) intercede to prevent mental health and substance use disorders; (c) promote help-seeking behaviors, (d) actively reduce negative public attitudes, and (e) improve the identification and treatment of at-risk college students. Over the lifetime of the grant, we will train 2,250 students in Kognito: At-Risk for College Students, train 450 faculty and staff to be QPR gatekeepers, host three annual campus mental health and wellness fairs, provide emotion regulation/resiliency training to 600 students, and create a series of digital and interactive campus wellness zones to promote mental health awareness and early intervention.