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Hold Onto Hope

By Nina LoPiccolo, Allie McNamara, & Lauren Stallone

+Purpose

+Purpose

■ Mental health and suicide are such prevalent topics within college students but is one that is rarely talked about

■ Our goal was to remove that stigma and raise awareness about this growing problem among college students

+Research

+Background Research

Mental health issues and suicide among college students are an increasing problem in today’s society

With financial issues, social issues, and intrapersonal issues, young adults in the college age group are becoming increasingly stressed leading to mental issues such as anxiety and depression, which could ultimately lead to suicide

Some research has been done and what has been discovered is that many major psychiatric illnesses usually do not manifest themselves until the late teens or early twenties, which is usually the college age group

+Quantitative & Qualitative Research

■ Distributed surveys to 50 random students■ Conducted 3 separate focus groups■ We found that we need to organize our

campaign’s events around the various busy schedules of our students

■ We need to advertise it correctly■ Since this topic can be uncomfortable for some

people, our events need to be open and conversational in order for everyone in attendance to feel comfortable

+Post AFSP Video Survey

■ Over 50 people came to the first screening during common hour and over 20 people came to the second screening in the evening.

■ Surveys indicated that

students were educated by this screening which is what our goal and AFSP’s goal was to do with this video.

■ Audience gained insight from the discussion more than the video.

+Survey Results AFSP Video1. Knowledge after:

14/50 Strongly agree

28/50 Agree3/50 Neutral1/50 Disagree1/50 Strongly

disagree2. Ramapo’s resources:

48/50 Yes2/50 No

3. Issue at Ramapo:47/50 Yes3/50 No

4. Attend future events:12/50 Strongly agree31/50 Agree7/50 Neutral

5. Why attended:44/50 Interest 6/50

CEC credit

+Post TJ’s Story Survey

■ Over 50 people attended this event.

■ Surveys indicated

that students were educated about our campus’ resources

+Activities

+AFSP “The Truth About Suicide” Video■ First screening: 1

p.m. ■ Second screening: 6

p.m.

+A Helping Hand

■ A visual set up in the Student Center

■ Cut outs of hands with Ramapo’s own statistics from The Counseling Center

■ 1,100 college students commit suicide every year.

+Break the Silence Flag Event

■ Started off with 1,100 black flags■ Outside on the Grove from 11 a.m,- 2 p.m. from

Wednesday to Friday for people to put in their own personal flags

■ The different colors are white which represents the loss of a child, gold: the loss of a parent, red: the loss of a spouse or partner, silver: the loss of military or veteran, orange: the loss of a sibling, purple: the loss of a relative or friend, green: a personal struggle, and blue: supporting the cause.

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+TJ’s Story

■ Wendy and Steve Sefcik

■ A local family from Montville, NJ who tours around all of New Jersey and neighboring states, telling the story of their son TJ’s, suicide

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+Successes

+Successes■ Raised over $100 for AFSP through selling

bracelets■ Over 50 students attended our smaller events■ Over 150 students attended our Break the

Silence event

+Suggestions for Future Campaigns

+Suggestions

■ Constantly keep in contact with all partners

■ Keep everyone up to date

■ Create a to-do list with deadlines

■ Get things done ASAP just in case there are setbacks

■ Keep all e-mails