United Hospital Fund Provides CUNY SPH with $100K to Address Depression Among CUNY Students

CUNY School of Public Health will also strengthen campus mental health services and review current linkages to community mental health providers.

A recent survey indicates that while 20 percent of CUNY undergraduate students met the criteria for depression, 50 percent of these students did not think they needed help for their problem and 90 percent did not seek help from campus-based counseling or other mental health services. This pilot project will support the training of 15 college student “Health Ambassadors’ to encourage students to get help for depression and to help shape a communications campaign; better training on depression screening and counseling for mental health counselors and employees at student health centers; and better linkages between these CUNY Bronx campuses and local mental health clinics. The program will be conducted at CUNY’s three Bronx campuses: Bronx Community College, Hostos Community College, and Lehman College. If successful, the program will be expanded to other CUNY campuses.

The United Hospital Fund is a nonprofit health services research and philanthropic organization whose primary mission is to shape positive change in health care for the people of New York.