College Establishing Campus Mental Health Action Plan

Psychology Prof Victoria DeSensi Received $10,000 Grant Wilmington College is engaged in a multifaceted plan designed to further support and promote mental health on campus. (PICTURED) Dr. Victoria DeSensi looks over work completed by several of her students, including, from the left, Travis Scheadler, Lauren Brickey and Brooke Williams. Dr. Victoria DeSensi, assistant professor of psychology, spent a semester-long academic sabbatical earlier this year working on a campus mental health action plan. It was funded from a $10,000 grant she received from Mental Health & Recovery Services of Warren and Clinton Counties. She identified the plan’s anticipated long-term outcomes as “improved mental health attitudes, an increase in utilization of mental health services and resources, and, ultimately, increased student retention.” The formation of the plan comes at an especially opportune time. In addition to the College’s counseling and academic services that address mental health issues, the institution is in the midst of an ambitious, student retention program funded by a Title III grant that provides wide-ranging support for at-risk students. Dr. Mei Mei Burr, associate vice president for academic affairs, has a background in psychology. She said each of these services has significant mental health applications that are complemented by DeSensi’s work. “Vicky’s campus mental health action plan is bringing all these initiatives together,” she said, noting that adding a mental health component to the program for at-risk students is unique. “We have more boots on the ground to draw all these resources together.” DeSensi said a major barrier society needs to overcome is the stigma associated with how people with mental health issues are judged. That is further complicated on the collegiate level when faculty, staff and coaches may not have a “comfort level” in dealing with students who come to them with mental health issues. “The big challenge is, ‘How do we get members of our campus to be comfortable addressing this?’ You have to change attitudes and de-stigmatize,” she said, noting that situations often worsen when students “insulate themselves” because of mental health issues. She said her two broad goals for the mental health action plan are to institute contact-based, educational interventions and to implement the means for individuals with mental illness to become empowered. This is being accomplished by building the proper infrastructure, collecting baseline data, revising the College’s services and policies where needed, and developing a strategic plan for mental health treatment and promotion. “Once these fundamental elements are firmly established, we can proceed with efforts to promote and deliver mental health screenings and other forms of strategic outreach aimed at identifying students who may be struggling,” DeSensi said. Part of the grant funding covered the cost of WC students’ participation in the national Healthy Minds study hosted by the Healthy Minds Network, which researches college mental health issues. More than 35,000 students nationwide have completed the survey over the past 10 years, the results of which are providing great insight into such issues affecting student success as anxiety, stress, grief, depression, suicide and problems with friends or roommates. Kazi McDowell, director of counseling services, said a number of students scheduled appointments upon viewing their survey results. “We want to be proactive so faculty, staff and coaches know what to do with the resources we have here,” she said. “We want anyone with a concern to feel comfortable making a referral.” WC students completed the survey at a rate higher than the national average, DeSensi said, noting that the results confirmed her belief that the College’s mental health resources should be expanded, more widely utilized and better promoted. “Students, faculty, staff and administrators have been enlisted to help develop an action plan,” she said. In fact, six students held key roles in getting the plan off the ground. On of them, Travis Scheadler, a senior psychology major, said the student research associates interviewed students, faculty, coaches, administrators and staff. “We wanted to get their perspective and background on mental health issues, so we asked them what they know about the mental health resources available at the College and in the community,” he said. “We needed to see where we can improve and grow.” Brooke Williams, a senior criminal justice/psychology major, said she has personally experienced the challenges of severe anxiety. She believes her work with the action plan “complements” her education both as a psychology student and personally. “I’m interested in getting rid of this stigma.” DeSensi expressed her appreciation for Williams’ forthcoming stance about mental illness. “Students need a proper forum to share these stories,” she said. “One year out, you can’t expect a dramatic shift. It’s a five, 10-year project. “Often it’s getting people to care.” Scheadler added, “We want to normalize it so students are not scared to seek help or fear being judged by going for help. “We’ve been able to learn so much about mental health — this relates directly to my classes,” he said. “We now have a background so we know how to respond to it.” Clarissa Smith and Rachel O'Donnell, both psychology majors, along with Lauren Brickey, a psychology/social work major, and Lila Kincaid, a chemistry major, were also very involved in the process of interviewing various stakeholders in mental health on campus and then transcribing the content of those audio interviews.