Campus Mental Health Guidebook

Resource guide for students seeking help at C.A.P.S. (Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Michigan)

Problem:

The University of Michigan has many resources for mental health that aren’t well-known or utilized by students in need

This guidebook is important because students don’t always know all the resources available to them. Many have expressed problems with CAPS and don’t know all of the other places on campus to go for help. There is a lot of information out there, but it's spread out and can be confusing when trying to figure out what the best plan of action is for reaching out and receiving professional help.

Intended Audience:

Students on campus interested in going to counseling, group therapy, or ways to discuss their mental health.

How can I help inform students that are struggling about Michigan's mental health services to prevent a crisis before it starts?

Design Solution:

I created a guidebook that explains the different resources on campus and provides tips for common problems affecting students

Focuses on a few big issues/ causes of mental health on campus
- Stigma against asking for help
- Imposter Syndrome
- Stress + Anxiety

RESEARCH ON CAMPUS

Early on in the design process, I created a survey with questions about mental health on campus. I learned that a majority of the students surveyed had problems with CAPS and didn’t know about other mental health resources or what to do in case of a crisis. I also used resources within the university to educate myself on this topic and inform my design direction.

BRAND GUIDELINES + STYLE INSPO

This booklet is designed as a companion to UM planners that students receive in their first-year

First Iterations

Sketch explorations for Wolverine Mascot that would appear in future guidebooks or comic (proposed idea)

Through this, I had to take myself and what I liked out and focus on the user and their needs. Some elements, like the illustrations I used in the initial design, didn’t work for a wide audience and I had to be able to let things go that I worked hard on in order to benefit the design overall.

First Iteration, Decided to make it geared more towards CAPS for familiarity + building awareness of the resource among new students

I changed the second to be more of an infographic style because I wanted the page to be more engaging and readable.

Second iteration:

I talked with Karen Henry, the embedded counselor at Stamps School of Art & Design, and asked her questions as part of my research. She gave me a lot of insight regarding what struggles students have (like anxiety about grades, learning to manage their emotions, school-life balance, etc.) and a list of resources.

In the list of resources, she mentioned the faculty toolkit that was sent to faculty at U of M for supporting student mental health. After seeing the toolkit, I decided that I wanted to do something similar that would be for the students directly. I looked at a few college student handbooks and was inspired by the visual elements. The images made it more visually engaging and interesting to read.

FINAL DESIGN

For the final iteration, I decided to create a detailed guide for students on campus showing the main organizations and resources that offer support for students. I focused on three resources for the spreads: CAPS, Wolverine Wellness and The Wolverine Support Network. It also includes a page of hotline numbers in case of crisis situations.

It is intended to be a physical printed-out bi-fold brochure-style booklet. The dimensions are 5.5x 8.5 inches.

Next Project

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse