Task 1: Research General Mental Health Disparities amongst College Students
In this task, we are planning to research Texas A&M and other universities to show their disparities in mental health access for students from diverse backgrounds. For example, the Healthy Minds Study surveyed over 43,000 students and found that 42% met criteria for mental health challenges, but only 41% sought treatment in the past year (Lipson et al., 2018). At Texas A&M, students of color often face similar obstacles, such as stigma and limited representation among mental health providers. National data reveal that stigma is high among Asian American students, with 63% reporting perceived stigma, and only 47% recognizing a need for mental health support, contrasting with higher help seeking rates among white students (Lipson et al., 2018; Texas A&M University, n.d.). By examining disparities in mental health access at Texas A&M and other universities across the country, our research aims to highlight the unique barriers faced by students from diverse backgrounds.
Task 2: Review current policies at A&M
For this task we will be reviwing a variety of mental health resources that Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at A&M has to offer. This includes their personalized treatment plans, which helps students address specific concerns and offers a supportive environment where they can connect with peers facing similar challenges. In addition, crisis counseling provides immediate, non-emergency emotional support during business hours, helping students in distress. We also plan to look into the TELUS Health Support app, which offers free, 24/7 access to chat and phone support, along with virtual counseling sessions. Lastly, we will be conducting research on their individual counseling sessions, which allow students to focus on a specific concern and develop strategies to address it in one meeting, without starting long-term counseling. Our goal for this task is to review the current policies that CAPS and other campus organizations have to offer in order to meet the diverse needs of all students.
Task 3: Determine Student Understanding and Experiences with A&M’s Mental Health
Services
In order to effectively gauge A&M students’ understanding and experiences with the university’s mental health services, we will conduct primary research through a 10-question survey. These questions will build upon our prior research, focusing on students’ awareness of available services and whether they have had personal experience with them. For those with firsthand experience, we will ask them if they faced any challenges and to assess their level of satisfaction with the services. Demographic information will also be collected, so we will ensure that all respondents remain anonymous. We will use Google Forms to create the questions, and provide a QR code or a link for our respondents. This survey will be presented to our peers in a variety of classes across different majors, to effectively capture an unbiased and general consensus. We are also planning to use our involvement in various organizations and class groups to encourage our peers to fill out the survey. Our goal is to collect at least 100 responses to obtain a representative sample of the student body. These findings will provide valuable information for identifying specific barriers and potential areas for improvement.
Task 4: Analyze Survey Data and Determine Barriers in A&M’s Mental Health Services
Following the collection of our survey responses, we will conduct an analysis to identify patterns and key barriers that students face in access to mental health services. This includes evaluating the students’ level of awareness and the various experiences that they have had in relation to their demographic information. A large part of our research is identifying the disparities that students face in accessing mental health services, which is why we will use the demographic information collected from the students to identify potential barriers due to social stigma, race, age, etc. We will also use this information to create detailed charts to provide a visualization for the data. By integrating our secondary research conducted in the earlier tasks with the primary research conducted through the surveys, we aim to update existing information and present additional barriers that the secondary research did not identify. Identifying these barriers will help us formulate targeted recommendations for our final proposal, promoting more equitable access to mental health resources for diverse student groups.
Task 5: Creation and Administration of Interview Questions
For Task 5, we aim to design and distribute interview questions that reveal the University Health Services (UHS) approach to promoting mental health services among underserved student populations and to examine disparities in this access. These questions, which will be administered by email, will delve into UHS’s outreach strategies, accessibility, and efforts to reduce disparities for both majority students and underrepresented students. Example questions include: “How does UHS ensure that underrepresented students are aware of and can access mental health services?” and “What strategies has UHS implemented to address and minimize disparities in mental health service access?”. By investigating these areas, we hope to gain insight into how UHS reaches diverse student populations and whether current efforts adequately address the specific needs of marginalized students. Understanding the effectiveness of UHS’s outreach and accessibility strategies to uncover gaps in the delivery of mental services and shape future improvements across campus. This will contribute to an evaluation of how UHS can further equitable access for all students at the university.
Schedule
On the left, you will find the Gantt Chart detailing the schedule for our project.