Higher education must listen to students with disabilities, mental health concerns

MHA Admin

Wed, 04/12/2023 – 14:31

by Kelly Davis, Jalyn Radziminsk, and Nev Jones

Anashua Dutta, a fellow at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and team member of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Award on addressing mental health discrimination in higher education, contributed to this blog.

A new survey recently revealed that 40% of college students considered dropping out in the past six months due to mental health concerns. Although this may shock some, it is not surprising to disability advocates and people with lived experiences of mental health challenges while in college.

The “campus mental health crisis” has been in the headlines for more than a decade, driven by increasing mental health distress and help-seeking among students. Most universities are now acknowledging this problem, with the majority of college presidents stating that student mental health is a top concern for their campus. Though universities often fall short, many have prioritized coordinated efforts to expand clinical services, launch well-being initiatives, and offer digital mental wellness tools. However, with the ongoing prevalence of mental health conditions, loss and trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic, and changing expectations of higher education, it’s a critical time to broaden perspectives on how we address mental health on campus. Increasing access to mental health professionals and campuswide well-being promotion alone will not make campuses accessible for students with mental health disabilities.

Disability and universal design on campuses

Historically, students with mental health disabilities are more likely to drop out of college compared to their peers. If more college students are struggling with mental health conditions, it makes sense that thoughts of leaving college are happening on a larger scale. It also means that students with mental health disabilities, who have been forced to confront and often experience the most extreme failings of colleges and universities, have key insights into solutions.

Students with mental health disabilities, who have been forced to confront and often experience the most extreme failings of colleges and universities, have key insights into solutions.

Instead of treating the needs and demands of students with mental health disabilities as separate or irrelevant to the rest of the student population, campuses can take a universal design approach by listening to and learning from students with mental health disabilities. This can help identify and create new opportunities to enforce the rights of students, make colleges more accessible for the growing number of college students with significant mental health concerns, and ultimately benefit everyone on campus during a time of widespread struggle.

The state of accessibility, accommodations, and student rights

For students with mental health disabilities, higher dropout rates are not an indication of their ability to learn or contribute to their campuses. Instead, it demonstrates that the policies and practices in higher education are often misaligned with – or even harmful to – students’ mental health needs. Students, including those of us writing this blog, can, and do, succeed academically when given access to appropriate and culturally competent support related to mental health disabilities. Typical accommodations, which many are entitled to under federal and often state disability laws, include flexible attendance, the ability to reduce course loads, and extensions on deadlines.

However, many campus policies and practices create unnecessary barriers for students that negatively impact their mental health. Students who have documented disabilities, which can be difficult to obtain due to factors like limited access to the mental health professionals required to provide documentation, often report that course instructors deny academic accommodations already approved by their disability services offices. Even when some populations, like Black students, gain access to disability and mental health services, implicit biases often lead to inadequate services, misdiagnoses, and a lack of cultural competency. This leads to poorer health outcomes, less outreach, and less support for Black students.

Students, including those of us writing this blog, can, and do, succeed academically when given access to appropriate and culturally competent support related to mental health disabilities.

For students generally, studies have repeatedly documented negative attitudes toward psychiatric accommodations among faculty and instructors, including beliefs that psychiatric disabilities are not “real,” reflect laziness, and/or are “not fair to other students.” The survey that found that 40% of students considered dropping out also noted significant differences in negative experiences among students who felt support from professors compared to those who did not.

In the last decade, faculty and instructor training focused on students as a source of risk has arguably further negatively impacted attitudes. For example, almost all campuses now have threat assessment and detection protocols, pushing faculty to think about their students in terms of risk and threat to the campus community. This is particularly true of conditions associated with high levels of stigma (and perceived “dangerousness”), such as schizophrenia and personality disorders. Instructors may also have limited capacity since many higher education environments are unsupportive or toxic for their own mental health.

Gaps in support and resources also mean that students who experience a mental health crisis, something that has been increasing among teens in particular, may face a police response and even an involuntary leave of absence. As a result, they are removed from classes, often prohibited from returning to campus, including on-campus housing. This is a traumatic experience that can result in the loss of community support and income, a derailed educational and career trajectories, expensive medical bills, and family conflict. Universities, notably Brown University and Stanford University, have reached settlements to address unfair requirements for students to return to campus after mental health leaves of absence in recent years. While there is limited data available on the topic, one student we spoke with reported being required to simultaneously attend an intensive five-day outpatient treatment program in a neighboring city while remaining enrolled full-time in courses.

One student we spoke with reported being required to simultaneously attend an intensive five-day outpatient treatment program in a neighboring city while remaining enrolled full-time in courses.

Further, intersections of oppression, including racism and classism, compound the negative impact of these experiences. This is not just because of the lack of representation among providers, the lack of affordable services, and the discrimination present in college environments. It is also because the most harmful responses of our mental health systems, including involuntary commitment and police response, are more likely to be applied to marginalized communities, particularly Black people with and without mental disabilities. Legal organizations in partnership with students and university stakeholders have proposed model policies for years to prevent discrimination and legal violations in these situations so that the punitive nature of these responses does not impact a student’s academic, extracurricular, social life, and general well-being.

Successful, evidence-based programs are available

There are programs focused on students with mental health disabilities that universities can implement or take inspiration from to more effectively address the evolving needs. These initiatives center students’ voices and wants and provide comprehensive support beyond simply increasing access to traditional services. While accommodations are critical, these programs also provide students with the broader support they need to navigate higher education. For example, the NITEO program at Boston University and the Fountain House College Re-entry program both offer a blend of academic support, well-being promotion, and support from peers with shared experiences.

Students themselves are also taking the lead to demand colleges improve accessibility for students with mental health disabilities and remove discriminatory practices. For example, Project LETS is a disability justice organization that provides peer mental health advocates and community organizing for students, and Neurodivergent U focuses on changing policies and practices that harm students.

Listening to lived experience and centering disability advocacy to improve campuses for all students

More students with mental health disabilities are attending institutions of higher education, partially because of disability laws that were largely driven by disabled organizers and people with lived experience. Organizations and organizers who have experienced the harms and failures of our current systems have been advocating for years for solutions like the NITEO program, Fountain House Re-entry, and peer support, as well as enforcing disability laws and changing campus crisis responses. This is not an unrealistic or impossible endeavor. The University of Florida Counseling and Wellness Center has been at the forefront of demanding and changing practices to be grounded in a human rights approach.

While not everyone needs to attend college, and broader issues like the affordability of higher education remain, the choice to obtain a college education should be up to students and not the result of an environment that does not meet their needs.

With nearly half of students considering dropping out of college due to mental health, it is clear that higher education must act. The perspectives and ideas offered by students who have deep experiences of our current failures can help us reimagine research, policies, and practices to build a better and more inclusive future in higher education.

Kelly Davis, associate vice president of peer and youth advocacy at Mental Health America, Jalyn Radziminski of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and Nev Jones, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, are co-leads of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Award on addressing mental health discrimination in higher education.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Capital City Emergency “Level II” Trauma & Wellness Center will house a “state of the art” Outreach Community Resource Center, that will provide case management, mental health community advocacy, and oversight from the M.I. Mother’s Keeper mental health advocates. 
 
The Capital City Emergency “Level II” Trauma & Wellness Center will offer patrons access to immediate coverage by general surgeons as well as coverage by the specialties of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, emergency medicine, radiology and critical care.
 
Our goal is to help people in the best way possible in an effort to preserve and to save more lives in the Nation’s Capital and beyond.

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Emergency

Code Red
Gunshot Victim
Life Threatening Wounds
Physical Assault Victim
Severely Injured Auto Accident Victim
Burn Victim
Epilepsy/Seizures
Cardiovascular
Choking & Breathing Obstructions
and more…

trauma

Child Sex Assault Victim
Domestic Violence Victim
Drug Overdose
Rape/Sex Crime Victim
Suicide Watch
Trafficking Victim
Nervous Breakdown
and more…

Mental Health

At Capital City Emergency Trauma & Wellness Center patrons with mental health emergencies that include life threatening situations in which an individual is imminently threatening harm to self or others, severely disoriented or out of touch with reality, has a severe inability to function or is otherwise distraught and out of control, will have access to quality and psychiatric emergency services and referrals.

Physical Health

Whether your life threatening medical emergency involves excessive or uncontrollable bleeding, head injury. difficulty with breathing, severe pain, heart attack, vision impairments, stroke, physically collapsing, or seizure related, rest assured that our professionals will properly assess and evaluate the level of response that will be most needed to help provide stabilized care solutions and minimize complications as well as reduce early mortality.

Holistic Healthcare

We offer healthcare solutions that will support the whole person which includes their physical, psychological, emotional, social, & spiritual wellbeing. Research supports that because your mental state can affect your overall health we support and offer the inclusion of complimentary and alternative medicine(CAM) practitioners and naturopathic doctor recommendations and referrals as a part of our Outreach Community Resource Center’s care regimen and support.

Rehabilitative

Emergency care can typically result in traumatic injuries for which rehabilitation becomes an essential component of care in trying to achieve the best long-term outcomes for the patient. In addition to speeding up recovery times and helping to prevent further complications, rehabilitative care also helps to support a patient’s self-managed recovery once discharged from our facility. Our Outreach Community Resource Center works closely with our trauma center’s discharge department to assure that patrons requiring these services are linked with qualified professionals who will be accountable to the standard of care required to help the patron be successful in their recovery.

Social Services

Our “state of the art” Outreach Community Resource Center intends to promote “expansive” beneficial community enriching services, programs, case management, & linkage to “approved” partner resources and supports in all of the following intended areas and more:

Social Services

  • Clothing
  • Food Pantry
  • Housing/Shelter
  • I.D. Credentials
  • Senior Wellness Check
  • Toiletries
  • Transportation
  • Etc.

Extended Family Services

  • Child Care
  • Credit Counseling
  • Family Court Services
  • Legal Aide

Career Training

  • Apprenticeship programs
  • Computer/Graphics Training
  • Culinary Program  
  • GED Courses
  • Hospitality Training
  • Job Etiquette & Grooming
  • Resume’ Prep
  • Sales Training
  • Software/Technology workshops
  • Small Business Training

Return Citizen
Program Partner
(Bridging the Gap)

  • Case Management
  • Temporary Boarding/Housing
  • Transitional Program Registration

Prevention/Intervention Outreach,
Workshops, & Programs

  • After-school Behavioral Health Program
  • Civic Engagement / Volunteer Sign-up
  • Fatherhood Rites of Passage
  • Gun Violence Town Hall Forum
  • Life Coaching & Coping Strategies
  • Marriage Counseling Workshops
  • Medicare Informational Workshops
  • Mentorship Training
  • Parental Classes
  • Support Groups
  • Town Hall Discussions
  • Violence De-Escalation Training
  • Voter Registration

Nutritional Outreach

  • Cooking Demonstrations
  • Dietary Programs
  • Exercise Classes
  • Recipe Sharing Workshops
  • Meal Prep

Community Outreach

The Healthy DC & Me Leadership Coalition is partnering with the M.I. Mother’s Keeper Mental Health advocacy organization to provide outreach services on the community level as an aid in reducing the existent health inequities that many District citizens are facing as a direct result of the presence of debilitating social determinants and the lack of culturally appropriate care choices and realities for community members residing in marginalized and lower-income communities.

It is the vision and intentions of the M.I. Mother’s Keeper Mental Health Advocates organization to help improve the quality of living for citizens living in our Nation’s Capital and beyond by overseeing the delicate linkage to services and by maintaining higher standards of care accountability for deserving citizens of the Nation’s Capital.

For more information or to enroll as one of our service providers, please email us at:
info@healthydcandme.org