Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi

TAMUCC College of Nursing and Health Sciences and University Counseling Center are partnering in the Suicide Awareness Focuses on Everyone (SAFE) project to build an infrastructure and comprehensive plan to support expanded efforts to promote resilience, mental health and wellness for students including LGBTQ students, Veteran Students and students experiencing substance abuse and mental health problems who are at greater risk for suicide. The SAFE project will also challenge mental health stigmas that interfere with help seeking. The SAFE project will also provide education and educational resources to staff and faculty and student families to help them to recognize and intervene appropriately with distressed students.

Population Served: The SAFE project will target all TAMUCC students, faculty, and staff with a special emphasis on LGBTQ students and Student Veterans due to the additional risk factors and special needs of these populations. The SAFE project will also provide information to families of TAMUCC students and collaborate with community partners to promote campus suicide awareness and prevention. Demographics of students enrolled in Fall 2014: Hispanic (44.7%); White (39.4%): African American (5.4%); Asian American (2.4%); Native American and Alaskan Native (>1%); other (2.4%) and International Students (4.9%). 70+% of students receive some type of financial aid to pay for their academic courses. Female 61%, Male 39%.

Strategies/Interventions: The SAFE project will develop an Advisory Board to identify, guide and promote TAMUCC suicide prevention efforts and help facilitate referrals of students to community mental health resources, and crisis response plan which includes response to suicide attempts or death by suicide; Implement the QPR, and Kognito gatekeeper training programs for students, faculty, and staff; Provide College SOS and Mental Health Screenings; Host an annual large-scale event annually focused on depression awareness and suicide prevention; Promote the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; Obtain and distribute informational materials related to suicide prevention; Obtain and distributed educational materials for families of students to increase awareness of potential mental and substance use disorders among students. 

Goals and Objectives: Over the lifetime of the grant, the goal is to train 3,500 students in Kognito-At-Risk for College Students and 450 faculty and staff in Kognito-At Risk for University & College Faculty; train 6 QPR Gatekeeper Instructors and 600 gatekeepers; train 100 in College SOS; provide 3,800 Mental Health Screenings; host 3 large annual suicide awareness and prevention events and offer 6 Resiliency and Mindfulness Trainings to SAFE and other selected faculty and staff members; distribute 1,250+ promotional items.