The Front Line: A Trauma-informed Approach to Preventing Suicide and Improving Mental Health through Education, Leadership, and Peer Empowerment - Norwich University is the nation’s oldest military college. Data from a Healthy Minds study conducted in 2018 and 2021 indicate that mental health challenges are paramount among the 2000 students in our high risk (young, 70% male) campus population. This project seeks to de-stigmatize help-seeking behaviors by expanding suicide prevention programming through delivery of campus leadership training, enhancement of existing mental health and substance abuse education, and development of peer-mentoring and peer-lead prevention programs for students. The characteristics of our student body and location demonstrate the critical need for enhanced mental health support services. Our residential population identifies as 27% female and 72% male, while 0.3% do not identify as male or female. Five percent of our residential students are veterans. Due to our rural setting, we have limited access to community resources that support emotional health and substance abuse prevention. We know that those in the military are at elevated risk for suicide and substance abuse, so education and support are essential for developing resilience in our cadets who are pursuing a military career. The stigma and challenges associated with developing a resilient and emotionally healthy outlook can be monumental for these students, therefore having additional support in place for those who may not seek counseling is an important target for our campus. Three inter-related and collaborative project goals will be implemented to address issues in access and capacity: 1. Develop and deliver a suicide-prevention and trauma-informed leadership training program for staff, faculty, and students every semester. 2. Expand delivery of the course, “Resilient Bodies”, which teaches stress reduction, mindfulness, emotional regulation, and conflict resolution skills; and 3. Develop, implement, and evaluate a student-lead, community-based substance abuse prevention program on campus. We will record participation levels in these activities and overall counseling center services and expect to serve at least 600-1000 students annually; 2400-3000 over the lifetime of the project. Evaluation of the reach and acceptability of the activities as well as their impact will take place each semester via qualitative observational data, mixed-methods surveys, and completion of the Healthy Minds Study during years 1 and 3 of the project.
