Mental Health Matters: A Q+A with The Jed Foundation
“In order to protect emotional health and prevent suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, we need to meet them where they are.”
— Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, Chief Medical Officer, The Jed Foundation (JED)
It’s no secret that kids and teens are facing more challenges than ever and that support for their mental health plays an important role in helping them have the quality of life they deserve. Factors like isolation, tense political climates, the impact of COVID-19 and the stressors of growing up all contribute to concerning trends in youth mental health.
In 2023, Rite Aid Healthy Futures partnered with The Jed Foundation (JED) to support their work protecting emotional health and preventing suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults.
JED works with high school and higher education campuses across the country to implement systems, programs and policies that protect student mental health, build life skills and encourage students to seek out emotional support and care. JED currently works with more than 438 institutions of higher education representing over 5.5 million students, and over 30 million people have been reached by JED's public awareness campaigns and resources.
We reached out to JED’s chief medical officer, Dr. Laura Erickson-Schroth, to learn more about her perspective on the organization’s life-saving work and its approach to empowering youth. Here’s what she had to say.
Q: What alarms you the most about youth mental health?
There is a misconception that the increasing mental health concerns in young people are new. What we know from research is that suicide rates among children and young adults have been rising for the past two decades. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple other factors, including racial violence, mass shootings, anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, and climate change have impacted the emotional well-being of today’s teens and young adults. Young people are living in a different world than we were growing up.
One of the things that makes it hardest for young people right now is a lack of social connection and community. The surgeon general recently released a report on the “Epidemic of Loneliness” in our country. Young people are especially hard-hit – over the past 20 years their time spent in person each day with friends has decreased by 70%. We know that social isolation and loneliness predict depression, anxiety, substance abuse and suicidality. On the other hand, social connection can help support a sense of belonging, which in turn can decrease depression and suicidality. For Mental Health Awareness Month, JED has gathered resources to help young people find community and connection.
Q: What makes school such a critical touchpoint for reaching teens and young adults?
Schools are the main ecosystem for our youth and where they spend a majority of their lives – shaping their academic futures, personal identities, self-confidence and relationships. This makes for an effective environment to improve youth mental health. In order to protect emotional health and prevent suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults, we need to meet them where they are. If young people have a strong sense of community they are less likely to struggle with mental health or suicidality. Schools can be a protective factor against suicide.
Q: How can schools partner with organizations like JED to support their students?
JED works with high schools, colleges and universities across the country to equip their campus communities with evidence-based resources to create a culture of care in which all students feel seen and supported. JED believes in a comprehensive, public health approach to promote mental health and prevent suicide because both are complex, layered issues. Our programs are grounded in our evidence-based Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention.
This comprehensive public health approach focuses on seven domains: developing life skills, promoting social connectedness, identifying those at risk, increasing help-seeking behaviors, providing mental health and substance abuse services, following crisis management procedures and identifying ways to remove or limit access to items and places that could be used in a suicide.
Through our flagship JED Campus and JED High School programs, as well as a variety of training, research, guidance and tools for administrators, faculty and students, we strive to create healthy and connected school environments. Through our higher-education and secondary-education programs we partner with institutions to assess communities’ needs, develop a customized strategic plan to build on existing strengths, and implement tools, strategies and techniques that lead to measurable improvements in student mental health and a more connected campus community.
Our JED Campus and JED High School programs have reached over 500 schools, serving more than 5.5 million students – nearly 16% of youth nationwide.
Q: The transition from teen years to young adulthood takes youth through some of the most vulnerable times of their lives. How can we support them during this transition?
It’s important for parents and caregivers to acknowledge these transitory periods in a young person’s life and the conflicting emotions that may arise with change. Talk openly about mental health, ask how the young person is doing, and let them know that you have difficult times too. Help them to build coping skills that they can use when they are experiencing emotional difficulties, whether that is becoming more involved in their community, going to therapy or picking up a hobby that alleviates feelings of stress or anxiety. Connection is crucial in times of growth. Remind the young person in your life that you are there to listen and help them navigate these ever-changing times.
Q: How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact kids’ and teens’ mental health?
Young adulthood is a time of growth. When you take a young person and isolate them for years, they lose key in-person interactions that teach them how to socialize, make friends and interact with their surroundings.
Social connectedness is one of the key areas that JED promotes through our work with schools. It is proven that when young people feel connected to friends, family and their campus community, they are less likely to struggle with their mental health. If a student feels disconnected, withdrawn and unable to make those vital connections to the world around them, they may experience loneliness, depressed mood and an increased risk of suicide. Community can be a real protective factor in suicide prevention.
Q: JED recently teamed up with AASA, The School Superintendent Association to pilot and launch the District Comprehensive Approach. Can you share more about this new program and its goals?
JED and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, are partnering on a multi-year initiative to develop and deploy a comprehensive approach to mental health and suicide prevention for PreK-12 school districts. The goal of this collaboration is to provide every school across the country with an evidence-based framework — combined with expert support, best practices, and data-driven guidance — to protect mental health and prevent suicide for millions of students. The District Comprehensive Approach highlights the importance school district leaders are placing on their students’ emotional health.
Research confirms that implementing comprehensive mental health systems improves student well-being and outcomes while strengthening school climate and safety. With suicide as the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 34 in the United States and parents citing mental health as a top concern for their children under 18, creating school environments that support children’s mental health is critical.
Our transformational JED/AASA initiative combines JED’s decades of nationwide experience protecting emotional health and preventing suicide for more than 500+ high schools, colleges and universities with AASA’s 150-year commitment to serving public education and school district leadership.
Q: What work in the field of youth mental health energizes you right now?
There is a lot of work in the field of youth mental health that is energizing me right now. It is remarkable to see how the conversations around mental health have changed since JED was founded in 2000. Younger generations are particularly awe-inspiring as they are vulnerably talking about how they feel as well as demanding accessible and appropriate mental health care and support.
From JED’s perspective, the work we are doing with AASA is also invigorating. It will be life-changing for students and communities to have two nationally recognized organizations team up to protect youth mental health and reduce suicide across the public education system.
We are grateful to Rite Aid Healthy Futures’ support of this expanding partnership and initiative that can serve as a safety net to millions of students.
Q: How will funding from Rite Aid Healthy Futures impact the work you do?
The generous $250,000 grant awarded to JED by Rite Aid Healthy Futures will directly support our recently announced partnership with AASA, The School Superintendent Association. The funding will enable JED and AASA to engage school districts across the country, starting in Detroit, rural Ohio and other communities through a comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention approach. Through this framework, school districts will implement a durable approach to mental health and suicide prevention planning that follows recommended practices, reducing the risk for millions of young people.
