Students are dropping out of school at alarming rates. While the overall dropout rate is 40%, 30% leave before ever reaching their sophomore year – and as of 2021, 71% of student drop-outs cited “emotional distress” as the reason. To say there’s a growing mental health crisis among youth is an understatement, as more and more students face anxiety, depression, and severe mental health concerns. Campus counseling centers are adapting quickly to meet the growing need for quality mental health care, but are often constrained by their own limitations. This is why Mantra Health, a leading provider of young adult mental health care, is working with leaders in higher education to expand service offerings, remove care barriers, and close mental health equity gaps. 

How do university students access mental health care on campus? 

Most colleges and universities have a counseling center and this is often the go-to resource for students in need of on-campus care. Often they exist independently of a school’s health center and include licensed counselors or therapists who are responsible for outreach efforts, preventative care, and one-one-one counseling sessions with students. Counseling centers provide vital services, but are often unable to meet student demand because of administrative responsibilities, limited resources, staffing challenges, budgeting constraints, and other factors.

Counseling centers don’t usually have the bandwidth to provide care on weekends, breaks, or over the summer months, nor do they have expertise in specializations, such as psychiatry, making it difficult to treat different states of acuity. To address these concerns, colleges and universities need to expand their mental health offerings to include more diverse and comprehensive care, such as teletherapy, telepsychiatry, crisis care, or unique therapy specialties, which are accessible at any time throughout the year.  

How is Mantra Health increasing mental health care accessibility? And how are their services designed specifically for university students?

Mantra Health has a diverse provider team, 50% of which identify as people of color and majority of whom are trained in unique specialities. Mental health needs are personal – and can occur at any time and place – which is why virtual offerings, flexibility, and personalization are necessary for college mental health care. University students are battling numerous stressors, including work obligations, financial strains, academic pressures, and busy social lives. We can’t expect students to wait three weeks to be seen by an on-campus counselor. More comprehensive needs require more comprehensive care. 

Mantra Health, a clinically-informed digital mental health provider, offers colleges and universities a variety of telemental health services, along with an innovative, student-focused platform that supports flexibility, collaboration, and ease of care coordination. Mantra Health works with colleges and universities to provide teletherapy, telepsychiatry, and crisis care to students, but the major difference is Mantra Health’s willingness to work intimately with counseling centers to fill in gaps, provide additional services, continue care through breaks and summer months, and ensure students’ needs are met in whatever capacity they are needed. 

Why is collaborative care an integral part of Mantra Health’s offering?

On-campus counseling services are necessary to the overall health of a campus and Mantra Health has no intention of replacing them. Rather, the telemental health provider offers an extension of services, working closely with on-campus counseling centers to provide additional care to college students. If students don’t have a car or if they can’t visit the center due to work commitments, academic obligations, or other reasons, they can access teletherapy or telepsychiatry through Mantra Health’s interactive, easy-to-use platform. This is where counseling centers, care navigators, and providers can maintain regular means of communication, ensuring that a student’s care is managed most appropriately and effectively. Should a student need care beyond the academic school year, Mantra Health’s team of providers can work with the counseling center or student directly to extend the student’s offerings, preventing unnecessary disruptions.

How does Mantra Health, an off-campus provider, ensure quality of care?

Mantra Health takes an evidence-based approach to mental health care. All providers are held to the highest quality standard of care and must maintain clinical and cultural competence. They are highly trained experts who understand the unique needs of college students. Mantra Health’s providers have their own diverse backgrounds, specialities, and perspectives, making them well positioned to work with many different populations of students, many of whom are seeking providers who understand their personal experiences and mental health challenges. 

Mantra Health is also one of the leading providers of telepsychiatry for young adults, a specialty area that is hard to find on college campuses, but incredibly important for the well-being of high acute students who face severe mental health conditions. Trained psychiatrists can work with on-campus clinicians and medical providers to assess the physical, mental, and psychological needs of a patient. This is incredibly beneficial when prescribing or managing medication or preventing a crisis situation from developing. 

If you want to bring mental health services to your campus or learn more about Mantra Health, schedule a call with our partnership team today.