{"id":9505,"date":"2019-02-07T21:43:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T05:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=9505"},"modified":"2019-02-07T21:43:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T05:43:43","slug":"mental-health-grant-brings-resources-to-western","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/mental-health-grant-brings-resources-to-western\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental health grant brings resources to Western"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bailey Thompson<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning on Nov. 7 and into mid-December, Tim Glascock \u2014 the project director for WOU CASA and Suicide Prevention \u2014 encouraged Western students to participate in the Healthy Minds Survey. Having received the three-year Garrett Lee Smith Campus Grant in Fall Term of 2017, Western sought to use this evaluation tool to better understand mental health and service utilization on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis gives our campus a better understanding of the health issues that need to be addressed on campus,\u201d said Glascock. \u201cThis initial use of HMS was meant to provide a baseline on these topics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the future, Glascock imagines that the data collected in this survey will be used to better serve the mental health needs of those in the Western community.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Glascock, specifically, there are four main areas that are focused on with the grant: \u201cIncrease gatekeeping behaviors,\u201d or in other words, encourage bystanders to notice and reach out to someone struggling, \u201cincrease educational events that focus on mental health or life skills \u2026 increase marketing and campaigns that focus on addressing many of the topics that HMS addresses, and finally updating or proposing new policies or procedures related to suicide and mental health.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With this grant in place, Glascock expressed that one of the most significant accomplishments that has resulted from it so far is \u201cthe implementation of a new website focused on suicide prevention and mental health promotion.\u201d Students can explore the website wou.edu\/mental-health and the variety of resources that it has to offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another success that has come from this grant is the creation of a new campus organization.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA new student club called Wellness Advocacy Group (WAG) formed at the beginning of this year and will focus on mental health promotion efforts,\u201d said Glascock. Amongst these efforts, this group is in the process of organizing an Out of the Darkness walk in May.<\/span><\/p>\n

An additional outcome of this grant is that 14 staff members on Western\u2019s campus have been trained to conduct trainings on QPR, which stands for Question, Persuade, Refer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cQPR is a bystander intervention training that teaches folks how to recognize someone in distress, how to reach out to them, and how to refer them to services,\u201d said Glascock. \u201cIt is just like CPR \u2014 the more people who are trained to recognize someone in distress, the higher the chances of folks being recognized and utilizing services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon reflecting on these changes, Glascock also had a few words of practical advice for any individuals in Western\u2019s community. A couple of the major things that he emphasized are that it is important for people to continue working on their own mental health and to continue talking about these issues so that they are normalized in our society.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a difference between mental health and mental illness,\u201d said Glascock. \u201cMental health is a generic term just like physical health; it can be good or bad, regardless of whether there is a mental illness present. \u00a0It is also worth mentioning that someone with a mental illness can be just as successful as someone who doesn’t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Glascock encouraged any students to seek help if they or someone they love needs it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cReach out, both if you suspect that someone is struggling, but also if you are struggling,\u201d said Glascock. \u201cThe worst thing that can happen if you reach out to someone is that they may get mad, but at least they know you care about them. \u00a0Saving a life is more important than saving a relationship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If students are interested in learning more about the mental health resources available on campus, they can go to the new webpage or email Glascock at glascockt@wou.edu<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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