Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Our program, SUPRT: Students and Texas A&M University for Positive Mental Health Resources and Training, will focus on increasing mental health awareness and response for our college community. Texas A&M University (TAMU) students, like other college students across the nation, may have recently left their life-long support system and face challenges of being on their own. Compounded with the stress of rigorous course workloads, this puts them at a greater risk for living with mental health issues. In order to address the challenges which college students face and increase the capacity of the TAMU community to respond to the mental health needs of our students, SUPRT will focus on different priority groups. First, we will implement Teach Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) with the majors and minors in the Health curriculum. Our reach will be approximately 785 students per academic year (over 3,300 for the grant cycle). We will expand and reach non-Health students through University sanctioned groups and units, reaching a minimum of 100 students each year. In addition, we will increase the number of faculty and staff (approximately 25 total) who are able to respond to mental health issues by offering certified instructor training in MHFA. The goals for SUPRT will include: MHFA to the future Health workforce, as part of TAMU’s Health Curriculum as well as to students participating within TAMU sanctioned units; Increase the capacity of TAMU faculty and staff to teach MHFA in the Health curriculum, TAMU sanctioned groups/units; Establish and maintain mechanisms for program coordination, management, and sustainability; and Establish and maintain evaluation procedures and collect data regarding process and performance measures. Mental Health First Aid is an evidenced-based program (EBP) that has a specialized track for Higher Education. This EBP was selected as it would be readily available, in which the team would be proficient to implement with fidelity allowing us to increase our network of certified MHFA instructors and the MHFA would accommodate the needs of the college students. After participating in the 8-hour, face to face intervention, trained individuals will have the skills to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders among their college peers. Texas A&M University has experience reaching and connecting with students through certification programs like MHFA. The team that will lead this project are experienced, working with Higher Education, health education as a profession and mental health programs. The proposed work will include other University partners—Corps of Cadets, Student Affairs, TAMU Panhellenic and the New Student Conference programs—increasing the reach of the program and training. Our project will be monitored using an evaluation plan that is inclusive of continuous quality improvement. In order to assess meeting our programs goals and objectives, performance measures and data will be collected, monitored and managed continuously and regularly. The SUPRT team will seek to use this information for dissemination and program improvement.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
