NAMI Offers Toolkit to College Students, Faculty, Coaches for Mental Health Education on Campus

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Arlington, Va.-The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is offering college students and others free tools to increase mental health education on college campuses. The special toolkit also supports the National Dialogue launched by the recent White House Conference on Mental Health. The toolkit is based on NAMI’s College Students Speak, a survey report published last year in which college students who experienced mental health problems called for greater education about mental health issues and access to mental health care on campuses. The survey report indicated that stigma surrounding mental illness is the greatest barrier to college students seeking help. The toolkit includes:

• A PowerPoint presentation titled Raising Mental Health Awareness.A step-by-step guide for a successful lay presentation.
• Four fact sheets to complement the presentation.
• Promotional flyers for campus distribution.
• A template to list local campus mental health resources.
• Sample social media posts.
• Video clips of students talking about mental health issues.

“The toolkit has everything college students, professors, counselors, coaches and administrators need for lay presentations about mental health issues,” said NAMI Executive Director Michael J. Fitzpatrick. “It a resource for anyone who shares campus mental health concerns.” Earlier this year, NAMI developed resources for the North-American Interfraternity Conference andNational Pan Hellenic Council, representing fraternities and sororities across the country.  A recent study released by Georgetown University Medical Center found that current college athletes have higher rates of depression than athletes who have graduated, pointing to a particular need for mental health awareness among college athletic faculty. In the NAMI survey, 80 percent of students identified mental health training for college faculty and staff as “extremely important.” The toolkit is available online at www.nami.org/namioncampus.Free preloaded flash drives are available upon request for students and faculty while supplies last. Contact:[email protected]. As part of the National Dialogue, NAMI also is supporting the National Association of Broadcasters public service campaign, www.ok2talk.org, encouraging young adults to talk about mental health concerns. About NAMI NAMI is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raising awareness and building a community of hope. Facebook.com/officialNAMITwitter.com/namicommunicatewww.nami.org/namioncampuswww.ok2talk.org ###
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