1. Mental Health Program
Higher Education and Behavioral Health: Needs in Your Backyard and Beyond
February 2, 2018
Liza Tupa, PhD
WICHE MHP
Director of Education & Research
30 minutes. An opportunity to give perspective on behavioral health. CHLLEGE AUDIENCE TO – NO MATTER WHAT Discipline you are from, you can touch behavioral health. This is what we see and what we have been involved with- and universities play a role in that. Promote scholarly research, unive program design and development, impact they have in partnering with agencies to do program (like funding, research TA), developing and “curing” the future workforce- healthcare, education, ect. AHEC is there and work with clinics in the area.
Do a PowerPoint
Intro – WICHE- Telelearning, distance learning, WUE? Distance learning info from Dennis?
Preparing future workforce, MT has a Native Trauma Center -Nat’l Center for Child Traumatic Stress
WICHE projects that are in line with this- get examples from Dennis
Push rural academic learning
Permanent Supportive Housing? PE
Supported Education- see if we can find out how much Montana is involved already
Campus Sexual Violence in rural areas

2. Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
Regional organization created by the Western Regional Education Compact and adopted in the 1950s by Western states to facilitate resource sharing among the higher education systems of the West.
1953 in Eugene, OR, moved to its present location in Boulder, CO, in 1955.
Governed by three gubernatorially appointed commissioners from each member state.
15 Western states, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Western Undergraduate Exchange.
What the heck is WICHE?

3. Rapid Evolution from Distance Education to Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning
Not That Long Ago…

4. Internet Course Exchange
Enables students, through home institutions, to access high quality online courses and programs offered by other four- and two-year ICE member institutions.
Collaborative model fosters faculty engagement, resource sharing, innovation.
Stay in academic sequence toward degree.
Ex., Wyoming offers an MSW certificate in Rural Clinical Practice.
Internet Course Exchange

5. WICHE Mental Health Program
Dedicated to improving behavioral health systems of care in the West and beyond
Behavioral health workforce development
Technical assistance, education, consulting and research services
Interstate Compact
Psychology Internship Consortiums
State needs assessments/strategic planning
Toolkit
QA/QI Hawaii, South Dakota, Alaska
WICHE Mental Health Program
OR, AK, CO, HI, TX, NV currently UT

6. Mental Health Does Matter: Prevalence on College Campuses
Colleges across the country have
reported large increases in enrollment, or at least increased access for students.
Mental Health Does Matter: Prevalence on College Campuses
Meanwhile college counseling centers have also observed an increase in the prevalence and severity of mental health issues reported by students and an increase in the number of students taking psychotropic medications.
NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness

7. Mental Health Does Matter: Prevalence on College Campuses
75% of lifetime cases of mental health conditions begin by age 24.
1 out of 4 young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have a diagnosable mental illness.
More than 11% of college students have been diagnosed or treated for anxiety in the past year.
More than 10% reported being diagnosed or treated for depression.
Second leading cause of student death: Suicide.
Sexual assault remains a serious campus issue.
Mental Health Does Matter: Prevalence on College Campuses

8. Mental Health Does Matter: Prevalence on College Campuses
More than 40 % of college students have felt more than an average amount of stress within the past year.
More than 80 % of college students felt overwhelmed by all they had to do in the past year and…
45 % have felt things were hopeless.
Almost 73 % of students living with a mental health condition experienced a mental health crisis on campus.
Yet, 34.2 % reported that their college did not know about their crisis.
Mental Health Does Matter: Prevalence on College Campuses

11. Mental Health and Academic Success
Of students who are diagnosed with a mental illness while in college, 64% withdraw.
Primary diagnoses ; depression, bipolar disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder.
31% percent of college students have felt so depressed in the past year that it was difficult to function and more than 50% have felt overwhelming anxiety, making it hard to succeed academically.

12. HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
have the opportunity to
build the workforce to serve the growing needs of campus & community

13. What can campuses do? Stigma reduction campaigns
Substance use awareness campaigns
Counseling Center capacity issues:
Partner with outside MH agencies, non- profits
Internship programs- psychology, Master’s level, MSWs, LCSWs
Sexual Violence prevention
Must be coordinated across campuses
Best practices; WICHE MHP assessment and TA
Supported Education
Research, Grants
Suicide Prevention
What can campuses do?

14. Another Campus Resource
Upstream digital well-being portal designed to build resilience and promote health
Customized for each university with campus specific resources
Personalizes over 700 evidence-based/supported resources for each unique student
Comprehensive approach to well-being; acknowledgment that mental health challenges do not occur in a vacuum, increasing engagement and preventing crises before they occur
Another Campus Resource

15. Defining behavioral health workforce
Wide range of
Services treatment prevention housing employment
Providers peers psychologists counselors nurses
Defining behavioral health workforce
Disciplines psychiatry psychology social work nursing
Professional
Levels paraprofessional
to graduate level

16. primary care, corrections,
Rural Behavioral Health Trends
Changing
demographics
Aging
population
Technological
innovations
Increase in
Medicaid as
funding source
Workforce
competition
from parallel systems
Demand-
driven system
primary care, corrections,
VA, etc.
cost, consumer
satisfaction, quality

17. What existing data tells us
Rural professionals shortage rates unchanged for the past five decades
Few rural-specific educational or training programs
Rural BH systems average higher staff vacancy
Providers with rural training & practice more likely to be retained in rural practice
Inadequate supervision a major retention factor
What existing data tells us

18. Some sobering statistics
> 60%
of rural Americans
live in mental health
professional shortage
areas.
> 65%
of rural Americans
get their mental health
care from their primary
care provider.
Rural Americans:
-enter care later in the course of their disorders, -more advanced symptoms,
-more intensive and expensive interventions.
> 90%
Of all psychologists and psychiatrists, and 80% of
MSWs, work in
metropolitan areas.

20. Strategies for rural workforce
Create new rural
educational delivery
methods and models
Grow your own
Partnering, natural
community supports
and leadership
Overall strateges
Develop a plan
if you don’t know where you want to go, you will never arrive….

21. Create new rural educational delivery methods & models
Develop
health career
pathways & ladders
Use technology to improve access to
training & career support
Address strategies
to reduce student debt load through rural service
Create
applied educational
& training programs

22. Grow your own – higher ed contributions
Increase
mental health literacy
Grow your own – higher ed contributions
Incentives: $$
returning to the
community
Increase
career information & recruitment efforts in middle schools and high schools
Recruit
People living in rural areas
Develop
specialized training

23. For example: Alaska’s Articulated Pathway
WICHE rural psychology internship initiative
Northern Marianas college – UAF; degree in social work
RWJF jobs to careers initiative – work, learn, earn RWJF Careers
National Health Service Corps loan repayment
For example:

24. Education and Training
Applied Training (internships etc.)
Specialized BH Higher Education
Supporting Practice Change and Continuing Ed
Work Based Education & Training
Focused Community Education
Workforce Analysis & Planning
Education and Training
+ Funding -
- People +

25. Facilitate partnerships
higher education public mental health system,
local community
Partnering
Campus programs
Grants - on campus and off
Specialized training (rural, underserved, cultural)
Residency programs
Outcome studies
Program evaluation
Find these folks at stakeholder groups, advisory boards, call and they will come!

26. Thank you!! Contact Us 1 - 303 - 541 - 0311 ltupa@wiche.edu WICHE
3035 Center Green Dr. #200
Boulder, CO
30 minutes. An opportunity to give perspective on behavioral health. CHLLEGE AUDIENCE TO – NO MATTER WHAT Discipline you are from, you can touch behavioral health. This is what we see and what we have been involved with- and universities play a role in that. Promote scholarly research, unive program design and development, impact they have in partnering with agencies to do program (like funding, research TA), developing and “curing” the future workforce- healthcare, education, ect. AHEC is there and work with clinics in the area.
Do a PowerPoint
Intro – WICHE- Telelearning, distance learning, WUE? Distance learning info from Dennis?
Preparing future workforce, MT has a Native Trauma Center -Nat’l Center for Child Traumatic Stress
WICHE projects that are in line with this- get examples from Dennis
Push rural academic learning
Permanent Supportive Housing? PE
Supported Education- see if we can find out how much Montana is involved already
Campus Sexual Violence in rural areas