Public university students offered free tele-mental health services

Special to The Canton News 

The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), in collaboration with the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, recently launched a new telehealth clinic to offer public university students free mental health services.

UMMC committed to the creation of the clinic as part of three overarching goals to help address the elevated rate of mental health concerns reported by students across Mississippi public universities. The Medical Center will also provide therapy support for students and create a statewide medication management service via tele-mental health.

The UNITE Clinic, short for the Universities Network for Integrated Telemental Expansion, provides therapy support and medication management services to students eighteen and older who are enrolled full-time at the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, University of Southern Mississippi, Alcorn State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Mississippi University for Women and, most recently, the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

“We’ve done everything we can to operate the same way as the university counseling centers that students are already accustomed to, so they don’t have to readjust,” said Conner E. Ball, programming and policy director for the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. “UNITE cuts out the waiting period by making it easy for students to self-refer and self-schedule. They don’t have to go through a scheduler, and they can make same-day appointments.”

In 2021, following the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory on protecting youth mental health, a needs assessment, supported by the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, was conducted by Dr. Nicholas McAfee, affiliate faculty in the UMMC Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and director of the William Magee Center for AOD and Wellness Education at the University of Mississippi, and Dr. Julie Schumacher, associate director of the Office of Wellbeing at UMMC.

Results of the survey, which sampled students at all eight public universities, revealed that psychiatric symptoms worthy of diagnostic follow-up and mental health treatment were more common than not during the pandemic. Students in the study, on average, experienced clinically significant elevations in at least five of the thirteen domains of a common screening tool used by mental health providers that assess for symptoms of psychiatric diagnoses.
In response to the report, Mississippi developed the UNITE Clinic through a $750,000 congressionally-directed grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The clinic supports students dealing with emotional, behavioral and neurodevelopmental difficulties such as performance anxiety, feelings of isolation or sadness, sleep problems, relational issues, adjustment issues and other concerns. Licensed professional counselors provide time-limited therapy support, and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, supported by a psychiatrist collaborator, provides medication management.

“Establishing the UNITE clinic is a big step in the right direction to address the ever-increasing demand of mental health services among college students,” said McAfee. “Based on the findings of our study, increasing access to care will likely help more Mississippians graduate with a college degree.”