Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
The proposed project aims to deliver evidence-based mental health awareness training designed to increase knowledge, decrease stigma, and encourage help-seeking behavior. It is our ultimate goal to extend and deepen our community's mental health literacy, strengthen the collaborative efforts that are being made (on campus and in Washington County) to proactively confront and dismantle stigma around mental health concerns, and create a local culture where the discussion and dialogue about mental health is as common and supported as the discussion about any other health and wellness concern. The URI Community Mental Health Awareness Project makes broadly available training to identify, approach, and support individuals who may be struggling with mental/behavioral health concerns. The proposed initiative will develop and implement strategies to deliver the evidence-based Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) and ProjectConnect curricula to faculty, staff, and students at URI, as well as key populations in Washington County in positions to directly intervene on mental and behavioral health crisis, and identify those individuals who may be experiencing the early signs of mental health concerns. The Implementation of MHFA (including population- specific modules such as Public Safety, Veterans, and Higher Education) will be a collaborative effort between the University of Rhode Island and the South County Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds organization. Through this joint effort, the URI Community Mental Health Awareness Project will deliver a population-based approach to providing transferrable and sustainable skills that help with 1) the identification of and intervention on the signs and symptoms of mental/behavioral health needs, including those for depression, anxiety, substance use/abuse, psychosis, and risk of suicide and self-harm; 2) increased knowledge of and access to campus and community resources for treatment and referral; 3) greater communication and coordination of services between campus and community providers; and 4) the development of a sustainable peer-led mental health training experience for incoming and transfer students. It is expected that approximately 2700 participants will be trained in MHFA/YMHFA during the 5-year project (just over 500 participants per year), and approximately 60 MHFA- trained peer facilitators at URI will be trained to deliver ProjectConnect to incoming and transfer students in years 3-5. All participants will complete a baseline survey, a post- training survey, and will receive a 3mo follow up survey which are expected to demonstrate increased knowledge of and confidence using skills and strategies to intervene on potential mental/behavioral health concerns, as well as increased awareness of and utilization of appropriate campus and community mental/behavioral health resources.
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).
