The JED Foundation and the Steve Fund, two leading mental health organizations, announced in December 2015 a joint plan to provide colleges and universities with recommended practices for improving support for the mental health and emotional well-being of America’s college students of color.
The announcement is accompanied by the release of new data showing the urgency of improving mental health support for this population.
Newly analyzed data from a 2015 national survey conducted by JED, Partnership for Drug Free Kids and the Jordan Porco Foundation reveals an unmet need in providing mental health support, education and programming that caters to the unique challenges faced by America’s college students of color.
Based on current research, evidence and expert input, JED and the Steve Fund will develop a comprehensive set of guidelines to enable college decision-makers, administrators, professionals, students and families to offer more effective support for the mental health and emotional well-being of students of color, and help them take action to reduce the shame, prejudice, secrecy and stigma surrounding mental health challenges, and prevent suicide among this student population.
“The partnership between the Steve Fund and The JED Foundation will allow us to make significant progress in addressing an alarming deficit in effective, culturally relevant and broadly adopted mental health programming for students of color in our nation’s colleges and universities,” said Evan Rose, president of the Steve Fund. “Together, we will provide practical, actionable recommendations to stimulate dialogue and best practices that reduce stigma, build knowledge and support assistance so that young people of color can thrive in higher education environments.”
“We are excited to be collaborating with the Steve Fund to help school communities best support the well-being and mental health of students through specific actions and programs that are meaningful, relevant and effective,” said John MacPhee, executive director, The JED Foundation.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vast majority of people with a diagnosable mental-health disorder don’t seek help. Members of ethnic-minority groups, such as African-Americans and immigrant populations, are even less likely than whites to get care, especially high-quality services, experts say.
According to a Wall Street Journal article published Jan. 11, most of these barriers are still a problem today. Minorities are likely to wait longer with symptoms before seeking care compared with whites, and they are more likely to drop out of treatment, making retention an important goal for professionals. Generally, though, if they receive good care, outcomes are similar for ethnic minorities and whites, experts say.
Research suggests that minorities often prefer counseling or talk therapy to medication, yet they often don’t have the opportunity because of limited service options, stated the article. If offered medication and willing to try it, however, they respond as well as whites, says Jodi Gonzalez Arnold, a psychologist and professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Center in San Antonio, who has studied the issue.
Lower educational levels and tough economic circumstances are barriers for some racially and ethnically diverse populations. But the disparity in treatment-seeking exists even among highly educated individuals from these populations, such as college students at elite universities, research shows.
A new initiative will be launched by the Steve Fund to support the mental health of college students of color. A website offering online therapy, called 7cups.com, will focus on offering them emotional support online, stated the article.
“The goal is to offer a first step for students of color having emotional or mental-health concerns. It is a way for them to talk with someone and get encouragement in an environment where a person may feel isolated,” says Annelle Primm, a psychiatrist and senior medical advisor to the Steve Fund in the article. Interventions focused on specific populations are intended “not to stigmatize or separate or segregate,” Dr. Primm says, “but to have the capacity to communicate with a diversity of populations.”
So far approximately 1,500 volunteers have received training as listeners. The service is expected to launch in February, according to fund president Evan Rose, whose family started the Steve Fund for his brother, a Harvard College graduate who died of suicide in 2014.