Colleges Leverage Tech to Improve Mental Health Options
Particularly with stresses induced by the pandemic, new and better tech-flavored ways of providing mental health support and care are being fielded in higher ed institutions.
It's hard to overstate the impact of the past few years on college students' mental health. The social isolation of locked down campuses and stresses of navigating remote learning environments, paired with reduced access to support and care services, have had serious consequences. Indeed, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that 63 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds have reported anxiety or depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while 25 percent have had suicidal thoughts.
Many colleges and universities have needed to ramp up their support services to meet student needs — and technology is helping to provide solutions. According to a range of experts and practitioners, for example, real, practical, and affordable answers to the mental health crisis are possible through online services and the power of mobile devices. But colleges have had to get creative in developing or selecting apps and services and, above all, in paying for them.
Covering Many Bases
With an ambitious offering of five phone-based apps, University of Kentucky has tackled student mental health challenges and works toward establishing foundational and proactive mental health and well-being initiatives. Those apps include:
- TogetherAll: Described by the company as a "leading online mental health service that provides millions of people throughout the U.K., U.S., Canada, and New Zealand access to a community and professional support, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
- Headspace: Headspace is a so-called mindfulness app that has been downloaded millions of times globally.
- Kognito: A mental health awareness training program to help students, staff, and faculty become aware of signs and symptoms of distress and mental illness.
- TAO (Therapy Assistance Online): TAO offers dozens of short learning sessions as well as interactive sessions to improve understanding of substance abuses, mental health, and mindfulness.
- WellTrack: WellTrack provides online tools for learning and feedback about issues the student may be facing and provides cognitive behavior exercises to help students improve their knowledge and well-being.
"We have had very positive responses from student groups — like the Student Government Association — who have been champions of these new platforms and actually have brought ideas to us that we partnered on," said Corrine Williams, acting associate vice president for Student Wellbeing at the university. "We also know these platforms have already reached individual students who might not have accessed support services otherwise," she added.
She credits the university's Information Technology Services (ITS) team for helping to put the pieces together. "The UK ITS unit has been an integral player as we bring these apps online. Without their general support and them helping us understand the best way to do this, there is no way we'd be able to do this work. I've also learned how much better this process is when you engage ITS early in a development process," noted Williams.
Tapping Funds
Paying for projects can be a challenge for most organizations. In May, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona issued guidance strongly urging colleges and universities to tap American Rescue Plan Act funds, specifically Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), for these kinds of mental health initiatives. According to his reckoning, some $40 billion has been routed toward higher education. HEERF covers a number of mental health services, including tele-therapy and psychiatry, suicide and crisis prevention training for school staff, hiring additional mental health counselors, 24/7 crisis support, and peer support programs.