Mental Health Case Study

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This past July the Office of Health Promotion at Syracuse University hired Kristelle Asiaka as its first the mental health specialist. Asiaka is currently working on establishing what exactly that means. “I was talking to someone a few weeks back trying to explain to them my job and they summed it up pretty nicely. They said, “oh so your job is to give people good vibes everyday,” and they’re pretty much right,” said Aisaka. Asiaka was open about the fact that, even after almost five months on the job, her job description was a work in progress. “It been a lot of collaboration, talking to the counselling center, student assistance, different people all over campus because even before this position there was a lot of people doing health …show more content…

“I was loving it. It was really fun to do the campus programming and working with the students, so I was looking for something similar,” said Aisaka. Further, Aisaka has always been interested in mental health. “It’s always been something that has been close to my heart, I have many friends and family members who have been impacted by mental health and stigma, and I definitely grew up with a unique awareness of how mental wellness isn’t always given the same respect that physical wellness gets.” Susan Pasco, the associate director at the Syracuse University counselling center, was involved in the hiring process for the position. She explained that Asiaka stood out as she seemed to have a fresh prospective to bring to the job with great experience. “Kristelle was passionate and excited, and she was young but had expertise already in doing mental health wellness work in a university setting.” Perhaps Aisaka’s most impressive initiative thus far is the mental health peer advisor program that she directly oversees. Through this, her youth and ability to connect to students is particularly

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