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College welcomes announcement of mental health funding by province

Jun 23, 2017 | 4:18 PM

 

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The provincial government is committing to supporting mental health for post-secondary students across the province.

Marlin Schmidt, the Minister of Advanced Education, announced $25.8 million over the next three years to improve mental health services for students at colleges and universities.

“We have heard first-hand how important mental health programs are to students – which is why, for the first time, government is providing equitable funding to all public institutions,” said Schmidt in a news release. “Creating healthy campuses and promoting positive mental health at Alberta’s post-secondary institutions better prepares students to deal with everyday stresses, sets students up for future success, and builds a more resilient community.”

Tobi Ceh, mental health specialist with the college, welcomes the news of the funding.

“It’s exciting,” she said on Friday. “We don’t exactly know our allocation yet, but it will give us a lot of capacity to do upstream work, work that can be focused on promotion, prevention and increasing resilience for students.”

The money will be used to fund counselling and other campus support programs, including access to 24 hour phone and online counselling supports, and specific grants for Indigenous students. $8.9 million is being invested this year, with specific details for colleges and universities being announced in the fall.

“We’d like to see more promotion and prevention programs,” Ceh said. “We want to do more work about how to increase resilience, so people don’t develop a mental illness, how we can build connections and build a sense of belonging and a culture of wellness on campus.”

The funding comes following the 2016 National College Health Assessment survey, which was conducted by 10 colleges and universities in the province. The survey found 90 per cent of students surveyed felt overwhelmed and were experiencing high levels of stress, and 13 per cent had contemplated suicide.

Ceh says fostering a positive mental health environment on the Medicine Hat College campus is important.

“We know that (mental health) is very well tied with student success and student engagement,” she said. “A student who is mentally healthy is a lot more likely to succeed and graduate and be a productive member of society, so without mental health, we don’t have health. It’s a part of success on campus.”

The college currently has peer support programs and one-on-one counselling available for students, among other programs.

Ceh adds the college was involved with other institutions in the consultations about mental health supports before the funding was announced.