University of New Hampshire
UNH is dedicated to offering high quality health services and programs for the safety and development of our students. Therefore, we have expanded the network of services to students through growing the Campus Suicide Prevention Committee (CSPC) both regarding composition (i.e., more students have joined) and structure (i.e., we have added 3 Working Groups focused on undergraduate student particular populations, Residential Life students, as well as faculty, staff and graduate students). We also aim to continue enhancing in-person and online suicide prevention trainings, as well as offering more tailored and sustainable programs and educational materials to the campus focused on students particularly at high school.
To specify objectives, we are in the process of consulting the Jed & Clinton Foundation Health Matters Campus Program and The Healthy Minds survey regarding campus safety and wellness assessments. As well, we will partner with campus Health Services and the UNH police to improve means restriction. We continue to expand the safety net through offering best practices trainings (i.e., we have expanded Kognito programs and in-person Mental Health First Aid) for college students, faculty and staff, LGBTQ+ populations, and student veterans/military connected students; we aim also to expand the safety net through further promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and existing emergency mental health services for at-risk students (i.e., student groups who may be marginalized generally and/or underrepresented regarding service utilization), i.e. students of color, student veterans, graduate students, first generation college students, international students, as well as LGBTQ+ identified students.
We will continue collaborating with the UNH Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, the Office of International Students, campus Office of Military and Veterans Services, and the Navitas program to develop culturally competent educational materials and programs. We will develop tailored materials for the family members of students by partnering with the Parents Association and UNH Cooperative Extension. We realize this infrastructure is multi-layered, and we will coordinate UNH Durham’s suicide prevention efforts with those occurring at UNH Manchester and School of Law though the focus will be on the UNH Durham campus. We plan to continue infuse our efforts into UNH’s current social norms campaign, YOU CAN HELP™ consistent with our view that suicide prevention is a community concern.
Moreover, Key Personnel and the Adjunct Assistant Dean of Students have worked with undergraduate and graduate students to create a new official student organization called Stop the Stigma (STS): Let’s Talk. The mission of STS is to reduce stigma and increase dialogue regarding mental health concerns, including suicide. STS intends to provide educational materials and programming to campus through collaboration with the Director and Assistant Director of the grant.
Our aim is to train a total of 2,000 students each year of the grant on the three peer Kognito programs as well as 500 faculty and staff each year on the three faculty/staff programs, for a total of 7,500 campus members. In addition, we aspire to train up to 2,000 campus members, and up to 10 additional trainers will be trained in Mental Health First Aid. At least 40 family members will take the Families of Heroes Kognito program. We anticipate an increase in referrals to and consultations with the Counseling Center and the Behavioral Intervention Team, particularly from the aforementioned at-risk student groups. This data will be collected in the aggregate.
At this time, the Project Director will be responsible for overseeing the grant activities as well as continual analysis of program data and performance through consultation with the grant Assistant Director and the CSPC.