By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 11-6-08
GREENSBORO, NC – UNCG is among 17 campuses receiving federal grants to conduct suicide prevention programs.
UNCG’s version, called Friends Helping Friends, will teach students to identify at-risk behavior in their peers.
Friends Helping Friends will launch in Fall 2009, and is funded by a $253,708, three-year grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The program has two primary goals: to increase the likelihood that peers will identify and refer at-risk students and to improve the help-seeking behavior of at-risk students.
The strategies for implementation are broad and include training students and key “gatekeepers” RAs (Resident Assistants) and PALs (Peer Academic Leaders) on campus regarding suicide prevention, recruiting and training peer educators, providing presentations in UNS (University Studies) classes and direct outreach for targeted populations, addressing parents with education through e-newsletters, conducting web-based education, and conducting on-going evaluation and data collection throughout the course of the project.
Jeanne Irwin-Olson, UNCG’s assistant director for wellness programs, said the program should make students more aware of help available on campus and lessen the cultural stigma that surrounds seeking mental health services.
“We need to let people know barriers don’t exist. There’s no reason not to get help while you’re here,” Irwin-Olson said. The Counseling and Testing Center of Student Health Services offers free counseling to all UNCG students, including part-time students. The Counselor Education and Psychology departments also operate clinics on campus.
Students interested in becoming trained as peer educators through Friends Helping Friends will be screened through interviews, and enroll in a three-credit course, HEA 202, where they will learn the basics of peer education and about mental health issues. During a second course, HEA 203, they will become actively involved in educational presentations for the campus community.
UNCG took part in two surveys to collect data for Friends Helping Friends. About 419 students returned the 2008 National College Health Assessment. About 401 students completed the Healthy Minds Study developed by the University of Michigan and administered at UNCG as part of a pilot study.
“Peers hopefully can break down the stigma around mental health issues and seeking help,” Irwin-Olson said.
The Friends Helping Friends planning team includes Irwin-Olson, Dr. Deborah Taub from the School of Education and Jason Robertson from Student Health Services. For more information, contact Irwin-Olson at (336) 334-3190 or jrirwino@uncg.edu.
