Grant funds app to support mental wellness for Seton Hill athletes

Seton Hill University is partnering with digital platform The Zone to help student-athletes connect to mental health services.

Supported by a $25,000 grant from the Staunton Farm Foundation of Pittsburgh, the university will offer a mobile app to Seton Hill athletes, allowing them to request tele-help for mental health issues they might be experiencing.

The app can be used for regular check-ins, promoting early intervention.

It also permits students to interact anonymously while providing aggregate data on their well-being to Seton Hill, allowing the university to see trends and provide strategies and resources as needs arise.

In addition to Seton Hill athletes, university administrators and coaches will have round-the-clock access to the resources in The Zone app, including a mood tracker, wellness library and links to campus resources.

“The Zone app will help destigmatize seeking the mental health assistance our student-athletes need,” said Rosalie Carpenter, vice president for student affairs and athletics at Seton Hill.

She noted the student body includes nearly 600 athletes.

“Students of college-age are at the peak age range for the onset of mental health concerns, and student-athletes are at a higher risk as they balance the academic, social, developmental and financial challenges of college with the additional pressures to perform on the field,” Carpenter said. “We realize that these high achievers may keep up appearances when they are actually struggling, and these issues are only exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic.”

Nonprofit Athletes for Hope reported in 2019 that 33% of all college students experience significant symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions. Overall, 30% of those students seek help, but just 10% of affected college athletes reach out for assistance.

During the past academic year, Seton Hill piloted The Zone app, which was well received among the student-athletes who used it, university officials said. Now, it will be expanded for use by all Seton Hill athletes.

Other institutions where The Zone app is being used include Mercy College and Lehigh, Florida A&M, Alabama A&M, Alabama State and Tennessee State universities.

At Seton Hill, the app program will be managed by Hadara Katarski, who also will work with athletes and coaches in her new part-time role as coordinator of student-athlete well-being. Katarski is an adjunct Seton Hill professor of sport psychology and sociology of sport and is a former Division I head cross country and track and field coach.

“The Staunton Farm Foundation funding is so important as we work to ensure our student-athletes realize their mental health is just as important as their physical health,” Katarski said.

The foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of people with mental illness or substance use disorders. It works to enhance behavioral health treatment and support through grants to nonprofit organizations in 10 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties.

Seton Hill offers on-campus and remote mental health counseling for all of its students and has connections with community mental health providers to offer assistance to students. Faculty and staff are able to report changes in a student’s behavior that might necessitate a check-in from a counselor.