Rule 3349-10-62 | Suicide Prevention.
(A) Purpose
To protect the health and well-being of northeast Ohio medical university (NEOMED) students and employees, NEOMED has established procedures to prevent, assess the risk of, intervene in, and respond to suicide on campus or situations where suicide affects the lives of its students and employees. The purpose of this rule is to provide students and employees with information on suicide prevention, crisis intervention, mental health programming, and other educational and outreach activities aimed at suicide prevention.
Toward this end, the rule is meant to be paired with other programs that support the emotional and behavioral health of students and employees at NEOMED. Specifically, this rule is meant to be applied in accordance with the university's emergency notification, response and evacuation procedures and the university's emergency or crime reporting rule.
(B) Scope
This rule includes resources for students and employees on and off of the NEOMED Rootstown campus, including the on-campus residences and off campus clinical training sites.
(C) Suicide prevention programs available on and off campus
(1) Crisis intervention access for students and employees is as follows:
(a) Students and employees are advised to call 911 if they:
(i) Believe someone has or is about to engage in a suicide attempt; or
(ii) Needs emergency care as a result of a suicide attempt.
(b) Students and employees are advised to utilize the following resources if they or someone they know have thoughts of suicide or are experiencing depression or emotional distress.
(i) Call or text the national suicide prevention lifeline at 988 or call 1-800-273-talk (8255) or text home to 741-741 to reach the national text line.
(ii) Call the Ohio careline at 1-800-720-9616 to connect to a behavioral health professional twenty-four hours a day seven days a week for confidential support.
(iii) Area crisis/suicide prevention lines include:
(a) Portage 330-678-4537 or 330-296-3555
(b) Mahoning 330-747-2696
(c) Summit 330-434-9144
(d) Stark 330-452-6000
(e) Cuyahoga 216-623-6888
(iv) Student counseling services at 330-325-6757 during normal business hours. After normal business hours, this phone number will be forwarded to impact solutions.
(2) Mental health program access, including information on the availability of local mental health clinics, student health services, and counseling services is as follows:
(a) Students who have thoughts of (or are concerned about others who may have thoughts of) suicide, or are experiencing depression, or emotional distress, are advised to utilize the NEOMED local mental health resources, which are located on the web at: http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/ohio-suicide-hotlines.html, along with any of the resources listed in this rule.
(b) Additionally, students may contact student counseling services at 330-325-6757 or by emailing counseling@neomed.edu. Additional resources are also available on their webpage, located at https://www.neomed.edu/cswc/. Students can also visit student counseling services, which is located on the second floor of the new center.
(c) Employees who have thoughts of (or are concerned about others who may have thoughts of) suicide, or are experiencing depression, or emotional distress, are advised to utilize the employee assistance program (the "EAP") offered through impact solutions. Resources at the EAP are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week at 800-227-6007 or http://www.impact.mylifeexpert.com, (member login: NEOMED). Employees and their dependents are eligible for services through the EAP, who provides live confidential access to professional counseling, guidance, and support. Unlimited phone support as well as up to three complimentary face-to-face counseling sessions per person per occurrence are available as a resource for personal and/or work-related issues. Further information can be found on the NEOMED web at: https://www.neomed.edu/hr/benefits/eap/.
(d) Local mental health centers offer support services to both students and employees. Area mental health center resources include:
(i) Portage county: coleman professional services available at: www.colemanservices.org or 330-673-1347.
(ii) Mahoning county: compass family and community services available at: https://compassfamily.org or 330-782-5664.
(iii) Summit county: portage path behavioral health available at: www.portagepath.org or 330-253-3100.
(iv) Stark county: stark community support network available at: https://starkcommunitysupportnetwork.com/#services or 330-455-2260
(v) Cuyahoga county: centers for families and children available at: http://www.thecentersohio.org/ or 216-432-7200.
(vi) Additional resources can be found at: http://www.neomed.edu/campuslife/studentaffairs/student-wellness/hotlines-and-local-resources.
(e) Additional resources
Ohio program for campus safety and mental health (OPCSMH): https://www.neomed.edu/csmh/
(D) Multimedia applications
NEOMED has promoted the use of the multimedia application offered by therapy assistance online (TAO), entitled "TAO Connect," for use by its students and employees who may be suffering a mental health crisis. The multimedia application is free of charge and includes evidence-based interactive modules and related tools for mental health and well being. It includes information on suicide warning signs, contact information for crisis providers, and other resources for students or employees in distress.
(E) Student outreach and educational activities
(1) NEOMED provides all incoming students with information about mental health topics, including depression and suicide prevention, as part of a curricular course and co-curricular education.
(2) The information provided includes available mental health services and other support services, including student-run organizations for individuals at risk of or affected by suicide (e.g., national alliance on mental illness on campus).
(F) Postvention plan
(1) NEOMED has developed and maintains a suicide postvention plan, consisting of a strategic plan to communicate effectively with students, employees, and family after the loss of a person to suicide (see appendix to this rule).
Key features of the plan include provisions that address the following:
(a) Immediate responses to the death
(i) Internal notifications at NEOMED
(a) The first person to learn of the death should contact public safety at ext. 5911 or 330-325-5911.
(b) Public safety will notify the chair of the mental health committee, along with the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and senior vice president for operations and finance.
(c) The chair of the mental health committee will convene a meeting with a subset of committee members to outline future activities.
(d) The provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and senior vice president for operations and finance, will notify the university president, chief marketing officer, senior executive director for academic affairs and student services, and director of human resources, as appropriate.
(ii) Contact with the family
(a) The chief of police will notify law enforcement in the next of kin's jurisdiction and ask them to make notification.
(b) Once verification of initial notification is made, key university personnel will contact next of kin to offer the university's condolences and support, and advise them of expected follow up contacts from the University, namely a representative from an academic or human resources division.
(iii) University communications
(a) The university will notify roommates, friends, faculty, and university employees of the death as appropriate based on circumstances and knowledge available at the time. NEOMED will make its counselors available to offer support and resources to those who worked or attended classes with the deceased.
(b) The broader university community will be notified by email. Suicide will only be mentioned with family's permission.
(iv) External communications
The chief marketing officer handles all on and off campus media inquiries. The department of marketing and communications discourages students, parents, faculty, and staff from making comments or giving interviews to the media. All communications will meet the guidelines for safe messaging provided by the suicide prevention resource center (see appendix to this rule).
(b) Memorials
All requests for campus memorial services will be reviewed by a subset of the mental health committee (the "subcommittee"). Memorial services will be discouraged unless there is judged to be therapeutic benefit to the campus. If a memorial is held, the subcommittee will advise those involved of the appropriateness of memorial service activities. Physical memorials are also discouraged but will be managed by the subcommittee if such events occur.
(c) Ongoing response
(i) The university will facilitate postvention discussion groups designed to provide education, support, and guidance in dealing with the grief in the aftermath of a tragic loss, as well as an additional screening opportunity to identify other members of the university community who may be emotionally at risk.
(ii) The mental health committee will engage in a comprehensive review of the postvention response to determine if changes to the suicide postvention plan are necessary.
(G) General information available through NEOMED
(1) NEOMED posts information about mental health topics and suicide prevention resources to the university's website about all of the foregoing topics, including crisis intervention access, mental health program resources, access to suicide prevention, mental health multimedia applications, and student communication plans. In addition, throughout its communications, NEOMED:
(a) Encourages students and employees to seek help or treatment that they may need;
(b) Develops and maintains communication plans, including the creation of outreach plans regarding educational and outreach activities on suicide prevention;
(c) Develops and maintains its suicide postvention plan to effectively communicate with students, employees, and family after a loss of a person to suicide;
(d) Ensures that personal information is kept confidential;
(e) Allows students to return to the curriculum as appropriate; and
(f) Prohibits any form of discrimination against students or employees with mental illness, including taking any punitive actions toward those in crisis.
(2) NEOMED promotes awareness around signs of depression and suicidal thoughts, which may include, but are not limited to the following:
(a) Personality change;
(b) Agitation;
(c) Withdrawal;
(d) Poor self-care; or
(e) Hopelessness.
Last updated September 16, 2024 at 8:39 AM
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