Students across the UC system may soon be able to identify tendencies for suicidal behavior and get help from a professional on campus, all anonymously, using a new online survey.
Starting this year, the University of California will join forces with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to offer the survey, known as the Interactive Screening Program, said Shelly Meron, a UC spokeswoman.
The new survey aims to combat the high rate of suicides ““ the second-leading cause of death for college students, according to a press release from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The goal is to make it easier for students ““ who may not be comfortable otherwise ““ to ask a professional for help, said Elizabeth Gong-Guy, director of the UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services earlier this month.
“(Suicide) is a general concern for us on (UC campuses) ““ we want to try and help students in any way we can,” Meron said.
After four years of discussion between the UC and the foundation, the program is being implemented on six UC campuses, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine. UC officials hope the survey will eventually be offered at all 10 campuses, Meron said.
At UCLA, Counseling and Psychological Services officials chose to offer the program to graduate and professional students in its initial stages because the student group tends to be more isolated than other communities on campus because of the nature of their work, Gong-Guy said.
UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services officials hope to expand the service to undergraduates in 2013, Gong-Guy said.
To begin the survey process, counselors from each campus send out email invitations ““ about 100 students at a time ““ to a group of students, said Maggie Mortali, education manager for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Students who accept the email invites will then be directed to a secure website where they can participate in an anonymous online screening and fill out an online questionnaire to determine if they are at risk for suicidal tendencies.
The website will automatically generate an email to a campus counselor that a questionnaire has been completed, so the counselor can review it and if needed reach out and respond to the anonymous student, all through the website.
It is up to the students to decide what’s next, Mortali said. If they wish, they can engage in a dialogue with the counselors through the website, and even set up a time to come in to the counseling center for an appointment.
“(The survey) is a great platform where (students) can address their needs and also to let them know that there are other means of getting help,” she said. “It’s a place for counselors to break down the barrier to help-seeking.”
There is no way for Counseling and Psychological Services to trace students using the system, unless the student provides personal information willingly, Gong-Guy said.
But the foundation does retain some information from the surveys, through existing partnerships with other universities such as Emory University and the University of North Carolina, to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, Mortali said.
Students at other universities who took the survey were three times more likely to seek help afterward, and 85 percent of people showed some risk factors associated with suicidal behavior, she said.
Mortali said she and other staff at the foundation have noticed an increase in students entering treatment after the survey. “(The survey) is effective in that students are more likely to come in (to counseling centers) than if it weren’t for this program,” she added.
At the UC, the program is funded mostly by a statewide grant to the University intended for suicide prevention, she said.
“This is the first time (the foundation) is developing the program with a statewide system,” Mortali said. “What we’ve learned … is that (the program) is adaptable … and we can apply it to other areas of suicide prevention in the future as well.”
Contributing reports by Alessandra Daskalakis, Bruin senior staff.