Resources
Active Minds
Active Minds is the nation’s premier nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for students. Through education, advocacy, and outreach, students are empowering a new generation to speak openly about mental health, support each other, get help when needed, and to take action for suicide prevention.
Active Minds chapters are student-led, school-based groups that lead conversation, culture change, and advocacy throughout their communities. These powerhouse student groups are working hard to serve the needs of their communities and create cultures that are more supportive of mental health through policy change, promotion of services, awareness and community-building events, social connection events, and more. As an Active Minds Chapter, you’ll have access to a suite of robust resources, ideas, professional expertise, and networks of peers – all at no cost.
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American College Health Association - ACHA (Membership Organization)
ACHA’s mission is to serve as the principal leadership organization for advancing the health of college students and campus communities through advocacy, education, and research. Through advocacy, research and education, ACHA stands at the forefront of issues that impact the health and wellness of our college students.
Email: contact@acha.org
Cost: It is a membership organization. Here is a link to their membership page.
Best Practices in Canadian Higher Ed. - Making a Positive Impact on Student Mental Health
The Best Practices Network in Canadian Higher Education (BP-Net) is a national mental health community of practice and knowledge exchange network. Our aim is to promote and advance evidence-based post-secondary student mental health and wellness initiatives to improve Canadian post-secondary students’ well-being. The network focuses on strengthening the assessment and evaluation capacity of mental health and wellness centres in Canadian post-secondary institutions. We seek to set the standard for performance in the area of post-secondary mental health on Canadian campuses.
Cochrane Library
Cochrane is an international network with headquarters in the UK that is a registered non-profit that does not accept commercial or conflicted funding. It is for anyone interested in using high-quality information to make health decisions. Whether you are a clinician, patient, or caregiver, researcher, or policy-maker, Cochrane evidence provides a powerful tool to enhance your healthcare knowledge and decision-making.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education
In-depth and breaking news, opinion, advice, and jobs for professors, deans, and others in higher education from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
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Police-Clinician Co-Response Calms Campus Metal-Health Crises
The Healthy Minds Network
The Healthy Minds Network is one of the nation’s premier research organizations contributing to adolescent and young adult mental health. HMN is dedicated to improving the mental and emotional well-being of young people through innovative, multidisciplinary scholarship. Their network serves as a resource for post-secondary education administrators, students, researchers, clinicians, policy-makers, and the greater public.
Each year, the Healthy Minds Study produces an aggregate, national data report using data from all participating institutions in that given year. This reports contains means, frequencies, proportions, counts, and graphs related to key HMS measures. These reports are free and available to the public. The new reports are out for 2023-2024 from the Healthy Minds Survey.
Illinois Doc Assist and ICC TAC Alignment: Enhancing Mental Health Support for Students
The Illinois Doc Assist program provides vital support to clinicians and health care providers working with individuals up to 21 years of age and perinatal populations, offering same-day consultations with board certified psychiatrists and social workers. These consultations address topics such as medication management, crisis intervention and treatment recommendations for mental health conditions, including mood disorders, substance misuse and perinatal mental health. Additionally, Illinois Doc Assist helps providers identify appropriate referral resources for patients needing care beyond their scope, verifying details like wait times, service availability, and insurance coverage to ensure timely access to therapy, psychiatric care, and social supports. This service aligns with ICC TAC’s mission to enhance campus mental health services by offering campus providers access to external resources that address complex student needs.
Illinois Doc Assist also promotes early identification of mental health concerns through screening tools for conditions such as ADHD, autism, eating disorders, trauma and non-suicidal self-harm — many of which are free and easily accessible. The program encourages universal screening, fostering early detection of behavioral and emotional challenges. By offering continuing education and expert guidance, Illinois Doc Assist is one tool to keep campus health professionals informed of clinical best practices, supporting ICC TAC’s broader goals of capacity building and strengthening campus-community partnerships in student mental health care.
Illinois Suicide Prevention Alliance – Illinois Department of Public Health
Suicide postvention resources provided by the Illinois Suicide Prevention Alliance, geared mostly towards providing comprehensive resources to support adolescents and their communities through the healing process from the school district perspective.
JED Foundation
The Jed Foundation (JED) is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive. The Jed Foundation’s Mental Health Resource Center provides essential information about common emotional health issues and shows teens and young adults how they can support one another, overcome challenges, and make a successful transition to adulthood.
JED Foundation
The Jed Foundation (JED) is a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, giving them the skills and support they need to thrive. The Jed Foundation’s Mental Health Resource Center provides essential information about common emotional health issues and shows teens and young adults how they can support one another, overcome challenges, and make a successful transition to adulthood.
M2 Peer Mentor Program Training Manual
The M2 Peer Mentor Program Training Manual aims to help staff at post-secondary institutions with the process of planning and implementing comprehensive training for Peer Mentors. The manual provides all the necessary materials (lesson plans, presentations, handouts) for facilitators to effectively deliver training sessions.
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MedlinePlus – Mental Health
MedlinePlus’s mission is to present high-quality, relevant health and wellness information that is trusted, easy to understand and free of advertising in both English and Spanish at no cost. It is a service of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), which is part of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Mental Health America 2024 Report
Mental Health America (MHA) is the nation’s leading national nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of mental health, well-being, and illness prevention. The following report is a collection of data across all 50 states and the District of Columbia and seeks to answer the following questions:
How many adults and youth have mental health issues?
How many adults and youth have substance use issues?
How many adults and youth have access to insurance?
How many adults and youth have access to adequate insurance?
How many adults and youth have access to mental health care?
Which states have higher barriers to accessing mental health care?
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National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health Clearinghouse
The NCCIH Clearinghouse provides information on NCCIH and complementary and integrative health approaches, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.
Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-888-644-6226
Telecommunications relay service (TRS): 7-1-1
Email: info@nccih.nih.gov
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
The National Institute of Mental Health’s mission is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.
Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-866-615-6464
Email: nimhinfo@nih.gov
National Library of Medicine (NIH)
The National Library of Medicine is a global leader in the collection, organization, and dissemination of biomedical information.
Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education: Supporting the Whole Student – Free Online Book from the National Academies Press
PubMed®
A service of the National Library of Medicine, PubMed® contains publication information and (in most cases) brief summaries of articles from scientific and medical journals. For guidance from NCCIH on using PubMed, see How To Find Information About Complementary Health Approaches on PubMed.
RADical Health Program
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Reducing Stigma
- Stigma Reduction
- Campus-Based Stigma Reduction Activities
- The Health Stigma and Discrimination Framework: a global, crosscutting framework to inform research, intervention development, and policy on health-related stigmas
- Best Practices: Strategic Stigma Change (SSC): Five Principles for Social Marketing Campaigns to Reduce Stigma
- Mental Health Stigma Reduction in the Midwestern United States: Evidence from a Digital Campaign Using a Collective Impact Model
- Reducing Stigma Among College Students Toward People With Schizophrenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial Grounded on Intergroup Contact Theory
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Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Samples of Mental Health Screening Tools
- Eastern Illinois University
https://www.eiu.edu/mentalhealth/screeningtool.php - SIU Edwardsville
https://www.siue.edu/counseling/mental-health/
https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools/ - University of Illinois
https://www.counselingcenter.illinois.edu/screenings
https://screening.hfihub.com/illinois
Suicide Prevention Checklist
This worksheet is designed to determine how to partner with organizations, work groups, and individuals in their community to address the intersection of suicide, overdose, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). This document discusses risk and protective factors, related data sources that may be relevant to your rural community, and other topics to consider in your current and future partnerships aimed toward prevention.
Supporting Minds Supporting Learners - 2024 National Report
In 2023, the White House released a report recognizing that “the United States is in the midst of an unprecedented mental health crisis among people of all ages.” 1) College students are not immune to this crisis; in fact, recent studies show that depression and anxiety are on the rise among this population. 2) Colleges are well positioned to help their students, but to do so effectively, they must understand what their students are experiencing—and how students want to be helped.
Since its inception, the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE) has demonstrated one clear point: Recognizing and addressing students’ challenges helps more students succeed.
Community colleges must act to better support their students, and colleges’ actions must be grounded in a better understanding of their students’ mental health and well-being. The 2023 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and 2023 Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) provide data to help colleges undertake this essential work.
Telehealth for Rural Communities: The Mental Health Care Gap
According to Psychology Today, telehealth is a welcome solution to improving access to mental health care for those living in rural areas. Although there remain some barriers and challenges to actualizing telehealth’s full potential, it can lead to more equitable mental health care in remote communities.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources
It is the mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing the effective health and human services and fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.
Toll Free Call Center: 1-877-696-6775
HHS Mental Health & Substance Use Disorders Website: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/mental-health/index.html
The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory - Social Media and Youth Mental Health
A Surgeon General’s Advisory is a public statement that calls the American people’s attention to an urgent public health issue and provides recommendations for how it should be addressed. Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action.
This Advisory calls attention to the growing concerns about the effects of social media on youth mental health. It explores and describes the current evidence on the positive and negative impacts of social media on children and adolescents, some of the primary areas for mental health and well-being concerns, and opportunities for additional research to help understand the full scope and scale of social media’s impact.
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US Surgeon General’s Advisory 2023 – Social Media and Youth Mental Health
This resource list is not copyrighted and is in the public domain. Duplication is encouraged.