How One University Uses a ‘Mental-Health Kiosk’ to Reach Students

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Drexel University has become the first American college to deploy a “mental-health kiosk” on campus. The sleek iPad-like device is stationed in the heavily trafficked student Recreation Center and is just one of several Drexel programs designed to support students’ mental health. The hope is that omnipresent touch-screen technology might make that first call for help less intimidating.

“Mental-health services are available here,” says Annette J. Molyneux, associate dean in the Office of Counseling and Health. “The students, unfortunately, that we don’t capture sometimes are the ones that are at highest risk, and those are the ones we need to get our arms around somehow or another.”

The kiosk is funded by a $5,000 grant from Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, in Philadelphia. In addition to providing resources for students, faculty, and staff, it provides community resources for those not associated with the university.