Sarah Ketchen Lipson, PhD, EdM
Principal Investigator, The Healthy Minds Network
Findings and Actionable Insights from the National Healthy Minds Study
For nearly 15 years, Dr. Sarah Ketchen Lipson and her colleagues have collected data from colleges and universities across the U.S. to understand the mental health needs of students.
In this webinar, Dr. Lipson will share key findings from the national Healthy Minds Study, including the prevalence of mental health outcomes such as flourishing, depression, anxiety, and suicidality, as well as trends over time. She will discuss inequalities that exist and opportunities higher education professionals may leverageto advance equity through system-level change, including protective, inclusive policies.
Dr. Lipson will also share evidence around the relationship between student mental health and academic performance, highlighting the importance of prioritizing mental health as part of overall college student success in strategic planning and institutional programming. She will discuss the ‘economic case’ for investing in student mental health and the ‘return on investment’ from prevention and intervention efforts.
This presentation will be followed by a facilitated discussion led by Vector Solutions’ Vice President of Education Strategy, Holly Rider, and will include recommendations and resource sharing relevant to higher education leaders, mental health providers, and others.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this webinar, participants should be able to:
- Describe the state of mental health and help-seeking in college student populations, including trends, overall prevalence, and inequalities therein.
- Identify the system-level conditions, including institutional policies and programs, that can perpetuate and widen inequalities, and conversely, those that can advance equity, including for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC students.
- Articulate the ‘economic case’ for investing in student mental health based on the connection between student wellbeing and other key outcomes, including academic performance and persistence/retention in higher education.
Presenters
Sarah Ketchen Lipson (she/her) is an associate professor in the Department of Health Law Policy and Management at the Boston University School of Public Health. Her research, originally inspired by her years working in residence life, focuses on understanding and addressing mental health and inequalities therein within higher education.
She is Principal Investigator of the Healthy Minds Network; this includes the Network’s national Healthy Minds Study, an annual mental health survey conducted at hundreds of colleges and universities each year. Sarah’s research has been funded the National Institute of Mental Health and William T. Grant Foundation, among others. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Huffington Post, on NPR, and in numerous other national and international media outlets.
Sarah completed a dual-PhD at University of Michigan in the Schools of Public Health and Education. She received her bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, her master’s from Harvard University, and was a Fulbright scholar.
