A Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. As an institution, we must understand that preventing suicide involves a community working together. 

In accordance with House Bill 1354, Austin Peay State University has developed a suicide prevention plan and an associated protocol that deploys a variety of initiatives to improve student health and wellbeing and to prevent suicide including:

• Develop healthy habits and resiliency skills.

• Promote Social Connectedness.

• Identify students at risk.

• Increase help-seeking behavior.

• Provide mental health and substance abuse services.

• Follow crisis management procedures.

• Restrict access to potentially lethal means.

APSU's Suicide Prevention Plan

Prevention

• Training: Austin Peay State University will provide annual suicide prevention training to faculty, staff, and students. Gatekeeper training will be offered by an on-campus team of certified QPR trainers. Additional trainings will be provided at select FYE courses, Student Leadership/ Work Orientation, etc. APSU QPR trainers are certified via relationships with the QPR institute and Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network.

• Dissemination of Information: Austin Peay State University will promote available resources related to suicide prevention services to include, but not be limited to, its partnership relationships, campus resources, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Crisis Text Line, and The Talkcampus app on the APSU website, in addition to additional campus media and training formats.

• Dissemination of Plan: Austin Peay State University will disseminate a link to the plan, each academic term via appropriate and effective channels of communication to faculty, staff and students, e.g. email, social media, handbook, etc. 

• Develop Healthy Habits and Resiliency skills: Austin Peay State University will develop ongoing programming and efforts to teach student the skills necessary to cope with the stress of college life, increase healthy behaviors, reduce harmful decision making and be academically successful. Suicide Prevention Week programming strongly emphasizes student resiliency and well-being.

• Student Involvement: Austin Peay State University will grow student involvement and participation through the development of student peer educators and/or peer advocates responsible for distribution of educational materials and programming related to suicide prevention and mental health promotion. Peer advocates will be developed in partnerships with campus groups.

• Relationships: Austin Peay State University has established effective working relationships with area mental health facilities to provide additional mental and emotional support to our students, particularly Centerstone, Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic, and Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital.
  
  More information regarding partnerships between Austin Peay State University and the local community is available at https://mcgtn.org/health. That Montgomery County Health Department will have available a comprehensive list of partners and services available to members of the APSU community which may include crisis referral services, support groups, military services, recovery center, etc. “Public Health Directory” and can be found on their home screen and was developed in partnership with the Montgomery County Health Council.

• Possible Next Steps: the suicide prevention task force would like to initiate discussions about the possibility of partnering with Academic Affairs to encourage faculty to add mental health messages to course syllabi. In particular, we expect to reach out to faculty representatives with this idea.

Intervention

• Question, Persuade, Refer: QPR is Austin Peay State University’s preferred model of gatekeeper training, by which faculty, students, and staff can learn to recognize suicide risk and respond appropriately. The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training. The signs of crisis are all around us. Key components covered in QPR training include the following:

  • How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal

  • How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide

  • The common causes of suicidal behavior

  • The warning signs of suicide

  • How to get help for someone in crisis

• Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT)/Care Team: Austin Peay State University’s BIT/Care Team encourages faculty, staff, and students to communicate about and facilitate supportive responses to students of concern. Whenever students of concern and their situations are brought to the attention of the team, BIT/Care Team members meet to gather data and plan for a coordinated response. The ultimate goal is to provide students of concern with assistance, to mitigate risk, or both. The team’s ultimate goal is to help keep the APSU community healthy and safe through early, appropriate intervention and to promote a safe environment focused on student learning and success. The campus community will be educated on an ongoing basis regarding the team and how to respond to students of concern.

• Notifying the BIT/Care Team: any faculty, staff, or student may notify the BIT/Care Team of their concern about a particular student. Hyperlinks to the (anonymous) BIT/Care Team Student of Concern form can be found on OneStop or on the Student Conduct and Case Management website here.

Reporting Form

• Student Counseling Services: suicide intervention is a key component of Student Counseling Services operations. During normal business hours, staff are available to consult with faculty, staff, and students on a variety of topics, including how to intervene with students in crisis situations. Under optimal conditions, individuals (i.e., faculty, staff, or students) with a good working relationship with a student of concern will directly discuss their concerns with the student and seek additional professional/medical assistance, as needed. Similarly, anyone may contact Student Counseling Services to speak with a mental health professional regarding concerns about a student. Generally speaking, students’ concerns are sorted (triaged) according to a series of steps which are outlined below. After business hours, please contact Campus Police at 931-221-7786 if a mental health safety assessment is deemed necessary.

• After-hours emergencies: when a student is in an apparent mental health crisis after business hours, Campus Police, 931-221-7786, is the first point of contact. Campus Police will assess the student’s risk for suicide and determine whether an immediate mental health evaluation is needed. When indicated, Campus Police will transport the student to an appropriate facility for further assessment and care, which may include a local hospital emergency department or a designated Crisis Stabilization Unit. Campus Police will communicate relevant information regarding the student’s presentation and safety concerns to the appropriate campus leaders. The following diagram outlines mental health crisis response procedures.

Postvention