TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Florida State University’s College of Medicine is using a program called Early Alert to check in on the mental health of students and faculty.
“The goal is to access distressed students before their symptoms worsen,” Cheryl Porter, Ph.D said. Porter serves as the assistant dean of students for FSU’s College of Medicine. “Knowing that they can rely on a weekly check-in changes the game, because they don’t have to come into an office or tell someone that they’re struggling, they’re being asked.”
The program sends a weekly text message to students, asking them to rate their overall well-being for that week on a scale of zero to 10. If their responses are on the lower end of the scale or a downward trend is noticed, Porter says the student will be given mental health resources for support…