What It Will Take to Improve Student Mental Health: A Call to Action

 How The Jed Foundation’s Comprehensive Approach can affect measurable improvement in community well-being and improved student outcomes.

 

Student mental health is a recognized crisis in our country. In the past year, nearly 20% of high school students reported having serious thoughts of suicide, and it is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States. Estimates suggest that 50 to 80% of adolescents who die by suicide struggle with undiagnosed depression, and that substance misuse increases suicide risk across age groups.

 

In this unprecedented moment, schools are being called on to play a big role in meeting the mental health needs of teens and young adults and many are working hard to do so. In fact, 80% of youth who receive needed treatment or support do so at their school. But often efforts haven’t produced measurable results because they are implemented in silos, focusing on only one facet of student mental health while neglecting the bigger call to build a healthy, resilient campus community.

 

That is why The Jed Foundation (JED) created “The Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevenion for High Schools,” in partnership with Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital’s College Mental Health Program. Adapted from a United States Air Force model that effectively reduced suicides, suicide risk, and other acts of violence in that branch of the military, this evidence-based approach focuses on seven key domains.

 

The seven key ingredients of an effective approach

 

Develop life skills: Educational focus on developing life and coping skills has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as lower substance misuse and suicide risk. Culturally informed social and emotional learning also promotes learning readiness, school engagement, and academic achievement.

 

Promote social connectedness. Adolescents who feel connected to—and cared for—by others and who have a sense of belonging in their school community are less likely to experience emotional distress and suicidal ideation, or to engage in substance misuse or suicide attempts. In fact, a school’s climate is independently predictive of social connectedness for teenagers and protective when youth are experiencing distress.

 

Encourage help-seeking. When students know how to ask for—and find—help, suicide risk decreases. But only one-third of students who experience mental health issues seek and receive treatment. Schools can dramatically increase the number of students who seek mental health when they need it by engaging in a variety of culturally responsive mental health promotion activities that raise awareness, lower stigma, and increase access to treatment, whether on- or off-site.

 

Identify—and respond to—students who are struggling. The majority of young people who die by suicide are struggling with untreated mental health challenges. It is imperative that school communities improve early recognition of these challenges by training faculty, staff, and students how to identify and reach out to students who are struggling and by implementing culturally competent mental health screenings for students in need.

 

Ensure access to mental health treatment. Schools are well positioned to provide students with—or facilitate access to—effective supports and psychotherapeutic treatments. Appropriate treatments can increase health and well-being, prevent and treat depression, reduce substance misuse and other behavioral health disorders, and reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors. This can be done on-site or through partnerships with community or telehealth providers.

 

Establish and follow crisis management procedures. Systematic processes for providing support to students who have been identified as potentially suicidal are critical to an effective suicide prevention approach. Comprehensive crisis management procedures should also include plans for responding to any incidents, such as a death in the school community and violence or threats of violence at school. Best practices utilize a team approach with practiced responses that are well planned, and communicated clearly.

 

Promote means safety. When students have reduced access to lethal and dangerous means of suicide, they are much less likely to attempt or complete suicide. Annual environmental scans of the high school campus to reduce student access to potentially lethal means, such as chemicals, medications, unsecured ropes, rooftops, and towers. can significantly increase student safety.

 

Educating all families in the school community about safe medication and firearm storage is also important, and when a student has been identified as being at risk for suicide, lethal means counseling for family members is a critical component of effective suicide risk reduction.

 

The need for equitable implementation

 

Well-documented inequities place some students in marginalized and underserved groups at increased risk for emotional distress and suicidality. To equitably and effectively promote student mental health and reduce risk, schools must take special care to learn about and plan for the needs of students whose identities and/or challenges may expose them to heightened psychological risk.

 

How JED can help your school meet this challenge

 

Schools cannot do this important work alone. Lasting systemic change requires partnership, technical assistance, and resources, which JED provides to schools and/or districts.

 

●     JED partners with your school or district to create an interdisciplinary team and participate in a baseline assessment of the current systems and supports as well as the current state of student mental health and mental health needs.

 

●     JED provides each high school or district with a summary feedback report of the strengths and opportunities for growth in each of the seven domains.

 

●     The interdisciplinary team works with JED to develop a strategic plan, which outlines the school’s/district’s priorities for strengthening its programs and systems and, ultimately, for improving the well-being and mental health of the students in the school/district.

 

●     JED is with you every step of the way, providing technical assistance, ongoing feedback, online resources, and regular webinars and training to help implement the strategic plan.

 

●     At the end of the 24-month engagement, JED will help implement a final organizational evaluation and a post-implementation student survey and will provide your high school or district with a final summary of strategic actions, outcomes and goals moving forward. 

 

Scholarships are available.

 

For more information on becoming a JED High School, visit jedfoundation.org/JED-High-School or email Glenn Karaban at glenn@jedfoundation.org.