Executive Summary The policy analysis is based on the increasing numbers of cases on mental health issues in college and university campuses. The topic is supported by evidential data collected from various studies and peer-reviewed articles that show the statistical prevalence of the most common forms of mental health issues seen among the students, which shows that the prevalence rate is ever-increasing. The methodologies recommended for implementation include increased availability of resources and facilitating the accessibility of these resources through overcoming barriers. Some policy options have been suggested for consideration and recommendations have been made accordingly. The fiscal impact has also been considered and suggestions …show more content…
have been made for alternative budgeting and funding resources. Background Starting a new journey while attending colleges and universities can bring a lot of challenges for the students and may affect their mental health while they go through this transition in lifestyle. [1] Unfortunately, studies have shown that the cases of mental health issues in campuses are ever-rising. This goes for both the traditional and non-traditional students who attend colleges and universities. Though the challenges that they face may vary, the impact on their mental health is nonetheless the same. [2] Studies have shown that 1 out of every 4 students suffer from mental illness while 3 out of every 4 cases will develop in their mid-twenties. The range of mental health issues also varies widely among the students. Some of the most common issues, with their prevalence, include: [2, 3] Mental Health Issues Prevalence (%) Anxiety disorders 11.9 Depression 7 – 9 Suicide ideation 6.7 Suicide planning 1.6 Attempting suicide 0.5 Eating disorders 9.5 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 2 – 8 Furthermore, statistics have shown that 20% of the affected campus students schedule for as much as half of the counselling sessions, while twice as much students will never seek help.
[3, 4] However, regardless the availability and accessibility of resources, many students feel discouraged towards accessing these services due to fear of adverse consequences, which may eventually have a huge negative impact on their future. [1, 5] Aside from the issue of availability and accessibility of services, another challenge is the lack of community awareness that adds to the threat against the mental health status of many students. [6] To add to the concern, most of the states in USA have scored poorly in the mental health report i.e. out of all 51 states, a total of 45 states scored either a C, D or F, but none scored an A. …show more content…
[7] Options for Change PEI. The Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) programs are developed to address and prevent the potential manifestation of mental illnesses and for early detection and intervention at the initial stages of manifestation. This programs are designed for community intervention and therefore can be implemented in campuses to provide help and support to the students in need. However, these programs lack stable funding resources which makes it difficult to sustain. Though there is scarce nationwide availability, these programs, if implemented, may provide community incentives to battle the mental crisis through behavioral health education, stigma reduction, training family and faculty for enhanced support and many more. [8, 9, 10] Health Insurance Coverage.
Currently, the coverage for preventive services only cover services in traditional settings i.e. the healthcare or clinical setting. However, services are only provided in these settings when damage has already been done. Therefore, expanding the healthcare coverage for preventive services in non-traditional settings will enhance mental wellbeing through accessibility of programs like the PEI programs. [10] Student Club(s). The establishment student-run groups on campus through the support and alliances of the mental health organizations will help to raise awareness among the students. Examples include clubs such as “NAMI on Campus” and “Active Minds”. Since these are student-run clubs, these are usually low-budget establishments and the liaison with external organizations helps provide community resources for mental health services. This also provides a comfortable setting for students to open up about their problems with friends or groups and thus raise awareness and reduce the stigma. [11, 12] ACHA Programs. The American College Health Association (ACHA) programs, in liaison with various campus communities, provide their professional expertise through advocating for policies, advocating for and educating students, and conducting research. [13,
14] List of Key Legislations Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization of 2011 (S. 740): Increasing the suicide prevention programs across campuses and community nationwide by renewal and expansion of provisions under this legislation. [4, 6, 15] Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act (H.R. 1833): Assist the campus community to cater to the students’ needs by improving the accessibility to mental health resources throughout campuses. [15] The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Provide protection to individuals with disabilities, including mental disabilities and illness, against discrimination. [1, 5, 21] Patient Confidentiality Rights (HIPAA): Protect patient privacy and rights by keeping health information safe and secure. [3, 17, 20] Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA): Protects the privacy of record of students’ education by prohibiting disclosure of information to third parties without consent from a parent of “eligible” student. [3, 18, 20] Affordable Care Act: The “Patient’s Bill of Rights” under this legislation puts individuals in control of their healthcare choices by providing the flexibility and stability to make informed decisions. [3, 19] Recommendations The availability of basic mental resources on campus should be mandated nationwide. In addition to counseling services, intervention programs and awareness campaigns should be implemented along with coalition with various mental health groups and organizations to help fight the stigma and raise awareness among the students and the community against the gravity of the issue surrounding mental health. Furthermore, the facilitation of greater accessibility of these resources should be made not only by expanding health coverage but also removing the barriers to accessibility. This includes involvement of a legal team working campus faculty and mental health community to help establish campus policies that ensures safe environment for its students to seek help openly and without hesitation or fear of harsh consequences due to discrimination. [1, 5, 8-14, 20] Implementation Implementing the recommended actions would require budgeting and funding. However, sustaining the new changes will be difficult if the financial sources fall short or are cut off entirely. In preparation for such circumstances, alternative financial resources should be obtained funding reserves should be established within the campus administration. Furthermore, the low-budget student-run programs are more feasible in long-term. Other alternatives include drawing portions of tuition expenses to support the funds internally. [1, 5, 11, 12, 21]
...will have a very easy time of teaching students. Less time will be used by the teachers to issue punishment threats to the student. Studies have shown that students who attend mental health programs for a period of at least one year will have increased attendance rates in schools and have better grades in their exams. If the mental health care is introduced in schools, then the rates of violent incidents in school will decrease by about 15 percent.
Mental Health Funding Mental health is a subject a lot of people prefer not to talk about, which is a main reason that it is so underfunded. The severe underfunding affects not only the people suffering from mental illness, but also the government, the economy, and society as a whole. It is in the government's best interest to put more funding into mental health due to the health consequences on patients, including weight issues, drastic effects on bodily functions, and difficulties in pregnancy. As well as this
...e people advocating for better mental health care. Parents and teachers are more likely to recognize the development of depression and should be educated on what they can do to help their student and child. Since it is proven that depression can lead to violence, qualified psychologists should be readily available on campus to help students faster than outside of the school. If not that, then schools, like George Mason University, can spread awareness of depression and sponsor programs or info sessions where their students learn of depression and what they can do to help others who may be victims of depression. Baby steps like these, as well as implementing a solution practical in the modern technology-era, can accumulate and develop into a strategically effective means of preventing school shootings caused by depression across the country in each and every school.
According to an article by Josephine Marcotty in Minneapolis’ Star Tribune from April 10, college students lead “hyper-enriched lives,” said Greg Kneser, dean of students at St. Olaf College. That’s what makes this generation of students distinct from its predecessors, he said. That is why more students who cannot cope with these feelings end up at college counseling centers with “increasingly serious mental-health problems.” 15 to 20 percent of college students nationally were diagnosed with depression. The second most common diagnosis was severe anxiety. According to the article, it is not unusual for mental-health issues to become apparent during a student’s college years.
Social policies are regulations, procedures and principles that affect the living conditions in favor of human welfare. They are in place to improve and change problems seen in society. One such problem is the mentally ill population being placed in prisons for criminal activities. Mentally ill can be defined as any medical condition that interrupts a person’s intelligence, disposition, capability to communicate with others, feelings and basic daily activities. The prisons in United States are overly represented with people suffering from mental illness.
Wadhwani, Sudha. Reaching Out to Diverse Students with Mental Health Services. 20 December 2010. Web. 16 November 2013.
When contemplating the vastness of social policies that could benefit from advocacy for policy change and a thoughtful, responsive audience, there is one topic that situates itself to the forefront of the list of policies needing major reform. This topic is that of health care resources available to those coping with mental health concerns. Though this population faces a variety of challenges such as housing/ homelessness, employment/ training opportunities and educational attainment to suggest a few, each challenge cycles into the next, effecting one another, disturbing how an individual can cope medically. Health care rights for those with mental health concerns bubbled to the public consciousness around with the acknowledgement of “serious
Policymaking compromise of three major phases: formulation, implementation, and modification. In the United States policymaking is developed at a Federal, State, and Local government level and in the private sector (Shi, 2013). In this presentation, we will explore the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, also known as Murphy’s Bill. Murphy’s Bill Mental Health illnesses impact different population of society regardless of color, race, or nationality. An estimate of 11 million Americans has schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression (“Short Summary”, 2013).
Can you picture the student voted “most likely to succeed” in your graduating class? This individual must have had everything going for them. They probably had good grades, popular, never in trouble, no health issues and socially and emotionally stable. However, twenty years later, after graduating college, a successful business owner, had a beautiful wife and three kids, he decides emotionally he is done and takes his own life. Mental health issues can manifest at anytime with varying degrees of significance on the emotional stability of a person. Factors such as socioeconomic status, biological and environmental issues all dictate mental health needs. Obviously, a variety of circumstances can evoke these mental health issues. Now imagine coping with these mental health issues and being expected to still be a normal student and conform to your peers around you. This is what we expect of our students dealing with a variety of mental health issues. The policies and procedures are established to meet the needs of all students. The mental health issues are recognized and evaluated based on the best placement for the student to receive an education. The public school system has the responsibility to provide a free and appropriate education. The school does the best they can to provide a whole school approach to deal with the increasing number of mental health concerns. However, the mental health concerns carry on beyond high school.
The four articles within the Diversity section included the diverse nature and issues regarding the African American, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Latino American communities, and those who are victims of environmental disasters. The main ideas included in the African-Americans, Racism, and Mental Health chapter (Carten 2013) were: the need to recognize the unintentional/intentional racist ideologies that many Americans hold (referring to majority White-Americans), the long-term effects of historical racism in regards to slavery and the belief that Black people were of a less developed race. In regards to the Community Mental Health Services to Asian-Americans chapter (Russell F. Lim, Hendry Ton, & Francis G. Lu, 2013), the key concepts included
Implications of mental health include poor academic and social outcomes and aggressive behaviour (Brown, Cashin & Graham, 2012). Therefore, this leads to the question of
Mental health is defined, according to the Oxford Dictionary, as a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. The idea of mental health is constantly subject to changes based on social values and beliefs of individual responsibility. Perceptions of the topic change more than any other category of clinically recognized issues. Many people believe mental illnesses are not as severe as individuals claim and can be fixed by just a change of mindset, forcing people affected to adapt without guidance or aid. Society cannot fully grasp what mental health and related illnesses are and the degree of their effects on the day to day life of individuals, which is why people affected face many stigmas. The lack of knowledge
Mental health is defined as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community” (World Health Organization, 2014). Mental health is a critical component to a student’s academic success and many post-secondary students are suffering from mental health issues. Every university across Canada is dealing with major mental health concerns. (McCloskey & Meissner, 2013). Although it may not be clear where students can get help, services are available in each community.
As it has been proven, students and depression across campuses are becoming more common daily, and it must be taken as a serious matter. There are many causes that result in depression, such as personal stress and academic stress. This severely influences a student’s life and can bring about extreme negative outcomes like suicide or eating disorders. Luckily, there are cures for this major issue. Counseling centers and mentors in the classroom and in residence halls can impact a student’s overall well-being and attitude towards his or her daily life. Depression, in conclusion, is an extremely dangerous mental illness that, if not cured with the correct treatments, could become detrimental to students across the globe.
Today, the numbers of people with mental health issues are considerably high. The problem increases the national and global social and economic burdens as governments try to find means of empowering the people with the issue and solve the problem. Today, one in five adults in the United States has a mental health problem (“Mental Health Facts,” 2016). “Mental Health Facts” (2016) also states that the adults that received mental health services are about 60%. Only 50% of the youth with mental health issues received mental health services in the previous year. Further, mental health issues are also related to drug use and addiction. Of all the mental illnesses and disorders, depression affects the most people and has the biggest burden globally. Due to the increasing burden and the gap in service utilization, the mental health policy seeks to address several factors. Some of the key issues to address include early diagnosis of mental disorders, provision of appropriate and adequate intervention a particular problem, education and counseling for the family members, and research to help reduce the numbers and reverse the trend. Another key area of focus is the use of mass media to create awareness about mental health issues and help clear the