(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.
(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:
(iii)
Summit county:
portage path behavioral health available at:
www.portagepath.org
or 330-253-3100.
(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.
Replaces: 3349-10-62
Notes
Ohio Admin. Code
3349-7-171
Effective:
2/20/2025
Promulgated Under:
111.15
Statutory
Authority: 111.15
Rule
Amplifies: 3350.12
Prior
Effective Dates: 09/16/2024
