Temple University

The goal of the Temple University Campus Suicide Prevention project is to create and provide a campus culture that promotes help-seeking where: (1) students receive culturally appropriate information and services around suicide prevention, mental and behavioral health and substance use/abuse with no wrong door to access services and (2) outreach is based by school/college so students are not required to disclose their status (veteran, LGBT, mental health diagnosis, etc.) in order to learn about/access services.

Currently our suicide prevention strategy focuses on identifying at-risk students through concerning behaviors that cause students, faculty, staff and parents to make referrals to CARE team, Tuttleman Counseling Services, and Student Conduct. This proposed project utilizes a more proactive and comprehensive public health model to create a campus culture that promotes help-seeking by utilizing, mobilizing and strengthening student groups, faculty and staff with increased training and outreach. Working with student groups in a traditional workshop/educational model will reach a significant population to help change the campus culture around mental health and substance use/abuse. We firmly believe that with our unique “pre-disclosure” information sharing strategy, targeting all students who can then move to the next step of seeking out services/supports specific to their needs, coupled with the utilization of social media and web-based strategies, we will increase capacity and reach many students who would not ordinarily access services

Programmatic elements include:

• “Student Safety Nest” a web-based gatekeeper training program for faculty, staff, parents and family members.
• Semiannual Brief Motivational Interviewing training to direct service personnel.
• Creation of an integrated referral database for referring students needing services in the community.
• Mobile web application with mental and behavioral health resources on campus and in the community.
• Resources and educational programs targeted to parents and other family members delivering educational materials to aid them in supporting their student web-based and in-person.
• Working with university stakeholders and nationally recognized experts to develop educational programs targeted toward all members of the university community.
• Broad-based educational programs promoting healthy lifestyle choices that contribute to maintaining emotional well-being, self-awareness, and help-seeking behavior.
• Comprehensive marketing campaign utilizing a variety of print, web based and multimedia tools to promote the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.