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Illinois Doc Assist: Enhancing Mental Health
Support for Students
The Illinois Doc Assist program provides vital support to clinicians and health care providers working with individuals up to 21 years of age and perinatal populations, offering same-day consultations with board certified psychiatrists and social workers. These consultations address topics such as medication management, crisis intervention and treatment recommendations for mental health conditions, including mood disorders, substance misuse and perinatal mental health. Additionally, Illinois Doc Assist helps providers identify appropriate referral resources for patients needing care beyond their scope, verifying details like wait times, service availability, and insurance coverage to ensure timely access to therapy, psychiatric care, and social supports.
Illinois Doc Assist also promotes early identification of mental health concerns through screening tools for conditions such as ADHD, autism, eating disorders, trauma and non-suicidal self-harm — many of which are free and easily accessible. The program encourages universal screening, fostering early detection of behavioral and emotional challenges. By offering continuing education and expert guidance, Illinois Doc Assist is one tool to keep campus health professionals informed of clinical best practices, supporting ICC TAC’s broader goals of capacity building and strengthening campus-community partnerships in student mental health care.
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Screening Resources
Illinois DocAssist offers guidance on selecting and using primary care friendly screening tools. These instruments assist in the early identification of problematic behaviors and social-emotional functioning that may indicate a mental health problem.
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Treatment Referral Assistance
Due to long waits and lack of availability of mental health services, consultation services are offered in conjunction with referral assistance. The consulting primary care practitioner will often need to provide support, education, and coordination.
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What is Project Echo?
Project ECHO© (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a movement to increase knowledge and expand the capacity to provide best-practice care for underserved people all over the world through videoconferencing, best practices, and case-based learning. ECHO brings together organizations and people all over the world to share expertise. Each ECHO session includes a topic presentation and a case discussion. Over the years, ECHO sessions have molded to fit the needs of different programs.
How the Learning Collaborative is Using iECHO
The ICC TAC Learning Collaborative will be using the ECHO model starting November 13, 2024. Using the iECHO platform will provide a more streamlined approach to holding meetings, accessing materials, recordings, and keeping attendance records. iECHO allows each participant to have a centralized location to access and store their training records, session materials, and certificates earned at any ICC TAC sponsored trainings.
How to Join
Each Learning Collaborative member will be receiving an invite to join the iECHO Learning Collaborative group. Step-by-step instructions are available using the link below. Any technical questions about joining the group can be directed to the ECHO Program Coordinator, Kim Nelson at knelson49@siumed.edu.
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Safe, Fun Sober Events at Colleges: Can Prevention
Norming Campaigns Be Effective?
ECHO Program
The ECHO program Safe, Fun Sober Events at Colleges: Can Prevention Norming Campaigns Be Effective? will be presented by Dr. Stephanie Rose and Millie Goins from the University of Central Arkansas on November 13, 2024, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Their presentation will share their experiences developing campus prevention programs that heavily involve students in the planning, developing, and implementation process. They will explain sources of funding and current outcomes.
Individual email invitations to this learning collaborative have been sent to the ICC TAC mailing list.
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Coming Soon
- Regional Meeting - John Wood Community College
- Regional Meeting – Illinois State University
- Assessment/Evaluation Learning Collaborative
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Free QPR - Suicide Prevention Training
Now Open to Students
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Jill McCamant, suicide prevention coordinator for the Violence and Injury Prevention Section of the Office of Health Promotion at the Illinois Department of Public Health, has announced that the Question, Persuade, Refer Suicide Prevention Training shared earlier by the ICC TAC is now open to students at community colleges and universities in Illinois.
With funding from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in partnership with ECHO-Chicago at the University of Chicago is offering the QPR Gatekeeper training for professionals working with youth in Illinois. This training is a self-paced online training that takes about one hour to complete. There is no cost to participants.
By the conclusion of the training, participants will understand:
- The common causes of suicidal behavior
- The warning signs of suicide
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How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal
- How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
- How to get help for someone in crisis
After completing the training, participants will receive a certificate as well as an electronic version of the QPR booklet and printable wallet card.
To reserve your spot, click the link below to access the registration page. Please enter registration code "ILS1837184428"
To register a group of 20 or more, please contact Karen Lee at klee64@bsd.uchicago.edu
This training is available through December 31, 2024.
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Rooted Teacher, KDP Stress Relief Podcast | |
The Rooted Teacher Podcast by Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), an honor society for inclusive excellence in education, is a go-to resource for empowering faculty and staff to cultivate a positive life experience both inside and outside the classroom. Hosted by KDP Coach Calvalyn Day, this podcast is dedicated to supporting faculty and staff by providing practical strategies and inspiring stories. It's also packed with actionable tips and resources that will help you thrive in educational settings. Through the episodes you will discover how to navigate the demands of working in education while prioritizing your well-being, personal growth, and relationships. This resource is being provided to help faculty and staff take care of themselves throughout the academic year, therefore enabling them to better help their students, too.
Suggested episodes to help with mid-semester stress are:
- Episode 8 - Bouncing Back from Burnout
- Episode 9 - Getting the Support That You Need
- Episode 15 - Being Good Enough
- Episode 16 - Train Your Brain to Love Your Life
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Student Resources for High Stress Times
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I'm So Stressed Out!
Feeling overwhelmed? Check out this fact sheet by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to learn whether it’s stress or anxiety, and what you can do to cope.
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Make time to balance your school, work and personal time to help your mental well-being! These tips and tricks can assist you in finding ways to optimize your time.
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Helping Students in Distress: A Practical Guide for Faculty and Staff
College is a time of self-discovery and growth that helps shape the rest of a student’s life. While these moments of development can provide a satisfying feeling for students, it may also create many challenges for their overall wellness.
Improving student wellness is a high priority for higher education professionals and university and college leaders. Illinois created the Mental Health Early Action on Campus (MHEAC) Act to address the mental health challenges students experience and guide the campus services provided to them.
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Anita Sego, PhD, MCHES (she/her)
Director
SIU School of Medicine
319 E Madison St., Ste 4M | Springfield, IL 62701
Email: asego99@siumed.edu
Phone: 217.545.7543
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Brittany Tolar, LCSW (she/her)
Deputy Director
University of Illinois Chicago
1040 W Harrison St. | ETMSW Rm 4406, MC 309 | Chicago, IL 60607
Email: btolar2@uic.edu
Phone: 312.355.4847
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