GUELPH – It has been a year of positive impact on student mental health since the University of Guelph and the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington joined forces.
IMPACT (the Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team) has a crisis worker stationed on campus to provide after-hours mental health support for students.
If a crisis call comes in, the IMPACT worker responds, with campus police if necessary, to provide an immediate response followed by wrap-around care from the campus wellness centre.
“The IMPACT initiative has transformed the way mental health related calls for service are handled by providing a collaborative, immediate and comprehensive crisis response for individuals and their support network,” organizers state in a press release.
Most mental health disorders have their peak onset during young adulthood, organizers stated, and by the age of 25, 75% of those who will have a mental health disorder experience its onset.
During the first year of the partnership, there were 116 visits recorded:
– an IMPACT U of G worker attended 13 live calls;
– 23% of calls did not require police; and
– 76.9% of the students were diverted from hospital because of the support they received.
Most of the calls were mental health/addictions and crisis-related situations, officials say.
