Counseling and Mental Health Service (CMHS) is implementing this year a federally-funded suicide prevention program at Tufts, but its efforts remain in the dark, and many students continue to be unfamiliar with the university's counseling resources.
CMHS is in the process of training faculty, staff and student leaders, including Residential Assistants (RAs) and Orientation Leaders (OLs), in suicide prevention techniques and counseling through the "Tufts Community Cares" initiative, a new outreach program started this semester based on the results of a 2007 mental health study and a subsequent federal grant.
Tufts received in October 2008 a three-year $300,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The grant is aimed at promoting "gatekeeper training" to teach students, faculty and staff how to recognize and respond to students experiencing mental health difficulties, according to CMHS Director of Outreach Marilyn Downs.
CMHS applied for the grant after the results of the 2007 Healthy Minds Survey indicated a widespread presence of mental health difficulties at Tufts.
The survey found that 15 percent of Tufts students screened positive for depression at the time of the survey and about five percent reported they had "seriously thought about suicide" in the previous 12 months, according to Downs.
CMHS staff members plan to make more than 20 presentations to students and staff this semester as part of the program. The grant also provides for presentations on mental health through the Parents Program and for focus groups with student members of Tufts' six cultural centers to create culturally sensitive and relevant mental health programs and services, according to Downs.
Downs said that the new program complements CMHS's efforts to better communicate to students the range of counseling services available to them.
"In general, we are interested in promoting services, making them accessible, user-friendly, and being welcoming and open to students," she said.
As part of OL training before the start of the semester, CMHS staff presented a run-through of Tufts' counseling resources.
The purpose of the session, which CMHS has conducted in prior years as well, was to familiarize OLs with Tufts' Counseling Center so they could make the services known to freshmen and refer students to CMHS if necessary.
Still, the program's effectiveness in publicizing its resources throughout campus — via OLs or by other means — remains questionable.
"If you asked most people, I don't think they even know where [CMHS] is," said Sophomore Gianna Wilkie, a 2009 OL. "Most people don't know about it."
Senior Amy Rosenbaum felt similarly. "A lot of people don't know about counseling at Tufts," she said. "People don't really want to talk about going to counseling." Rosenbaum said she had not heard of the suicide prevention program.
Freshman Josh Reed-Diawuoh said that he heard of CMHS offerings during orientation but did not think how to utilize the services was made clear.
"I briefly heard about it," he said. "During orientation, people did mention it, but I don't remember any sit-down session about it."
Reed-Diawuoh did not seem concerned with the lack of dissemination about CMHS programs, though. "I don't think that's needed, as long as you know that it's there. That's the point," he said.
Rosenbaum also said she was not very familiar with the Counseling Center's resources but added that she always felt the center was available should she feel the need for counseling.
"I'm sure I would have learned more about it if I had need of it, but since I didn't, it's just been something that was there should I ever need it in the future," she said.
Tufts conducted the Healthy Minds Study, which sparked CMHS's increased emphasis on outreach, in order to "get a better assessment of Tufts students' mental health needs and wellbeing in various ways, and understand attitudes and beliefs about help seeking in general and use of Health Service," Downs said.
The University of Michigan School of Public Health, the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center and the Center for Student Studies in Ann Arbor, Mich. collaborated to create the Healthy Minds Study, in which 13 universities nationwide participated in 2007. The study used a random sample of undergraduate and graduate students at Tufts. The findings have helped administrators address the needs of students.
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Editor's Note (Oct. 16, 2010): The 14th paragraph of this article has been updated since it was originally posted, for the purposes of clarity.
