How Student Champions Are Changing Conversations About Suicide and Mental Health
High school students working with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s School Health Initiative are helping shape peer-to-peer suicide awareness programming, giving researchers new insight into the messages and approaches that resonate most with adolescents.
For many teenagers, conversations about mental health remain difficult. While schools and health professionals play critical roles in supporting young people, students often turn first to friends and classmates when they are struggling.
Researchers and clinicians at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Mailman Center for Child Development are exploring whether those peer relationships can become a powerful tool for education, awareness and suicide prevention. Through the University of Miami/Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation School Health Initiative (SHI) Student Champions Program, high school students are helping shape how conversations about suicide and mental health happen on campus while contributing to an ongoing research effort designed to understand what types of messages resonate most with their peers.
The School Health Initiative was established in 2000 by the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation. The innovative program provides comprehensive primary care, acute care, mental health services and preventive care to Miami-Dade County Public Schools students regardless of ability to pay. In addition to the Foundation, the program is supported by The Children’s Trust, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and the Miami-Dade County Health Department.
What It Means
What Is the Student Champions Program?
The Student Champions Program is a University of Miami-led student health initiative that invites high school students to help develop and deliver peer-led presentations about mental health and suicide awareness. The program gives students a voice in how these conversations happen on campus while helping researchers better understand which messages, activities and approaches resonate most with adolescents.
This past school year, 30 students at North Miami Senior High School developed peer-led presentations focused on suicide awareness, with guidance from Miller School psychologists, nurses and researchers.
“What the students bring to the program is a unique perspective on how to frame information,” said Elizabeth Pulgaron, Ph.D., director of mental health services for the School Health Initiative and a professor of pediatrics at the Miller School. “How do we talk about these topics in a way that reduces stigma and is well received by peers? Students know that better than anyone.”
Building on Lessons from the Pandemic
The Student Champions Program traces its roots to the COVID-19 pandemic. During that period, Dr. Pulgaron and colleagues secured funding through the National Institutes of Health-supported RADx initiative to help communities navigate questions about testing, vaccination and safe returns to school. Recognizing the importance of trusted voices within school communities, the team first recruited adult champions and later expanded the model to include students.
“We realized we needed support from the people schools already trusted,” Dr. Pulgaron said. “What emerged was a really strong partnership between our university team and the students themselves.”
Over time, the program evolved beyond COVID education. Students helped identify health priorities within their schools, conducted small research projects and provided feedback that influenced future programming. Most recently, the focus shifted toward suicide awareness, an area where peer engagement can be especially valuable.
“The Champions program has really become a student-led health promotion program,” Dr. Pulgaron said. “It combines our clinicians, our researchers and our school communities in a way that allows students to become active participants in promoting health.”
Addressing Rising Mental Health Needs Among Teens
The work is taking place against a backdrop of growing mental health needs among adolescents. Chloe Cristian, Psy.D., a psychologist with the School Health Initiative, sees those challenges firsthand.
“We see a lot of anxiety, a lot of depression and some post-traumatic stress related to immigration experiences,” Dr. Cristian said. “Those are some of the most common concerns that bring students to us.”
What was your favorite part of the program?
Participants cited peer connections, meaningful conversations and improved access to mental health support.
“Talking to my peers about really important matters and hearing different opinions.”
“The people. Everyone was cool, kind and accepting.”
“Getting connected to resources and school psychologists for my own mental health.”
Dr. Cristian works alongside Miller School pediatric and family medicine residents to identify students who may benefit from mental health services. When screenings indicate elevated levels of depression or anxiety, students are connected with individual therapy, group therapy or outside resources when appropriate.
“A large part of our work is meeting students where they are and helping them access support early,” Dr. Cristian said. “The school setting creates opportunities to reach young people who might otherwise never seek mental health care.”
Many of those students face challenges that extend beyond academics.
“We frequently work with young people experiencing family conflict, peer challenges and significant life stressors,” Dr. Cristian said. “For some students, those experiences can have a serious impact on their emotional well-being.”
Turning Awareness Into Engagement
Within the Champions Program, students received training on suicide awareness before helping develop presentations for classmates. Together with faculty mentors, they refined the presentations throughout the year, collecting feedback after each session and making adjustments based on what students found engaging and meaningful.
According to Dr. Pulgaron, some of the most effective ideas came directly from the students themselves.
One example involved transforming traditional lists of coping strategies into interactive activities and games. Rather than passively receiving information, students were encouraged to participate, discuss and share their perspectives with one another.
“The content might be similar to what a professional would recommend, but it sounds different coming from a peer,” Dr. Pulgaron said. “Students have credibility with one another that adults don’t always have.”
Researchers are also studying how participation in the program influences students’ knowledge of mental health and suicide awareness. Data are collected before, during and after participation, measuring changes in areas such as mental health knowledge, comfort with presentations and professional development skills. The team has presented findings at conferences and is preparing additional publications based on the work.
Looking ahead, program leaders hope to expand the initiative and adapt it for additional school communities, including the development of Spanish-language suicide awareness programming. Funding applications are currently under review, and the team remains committed to continuing the effort in some form.
For Dr. Pulgaron, one lesson has already emerged.
“I think the students are incredibly creative and thoughtful,” she said. “When you give them the opportunity to lead and support their peers, they come up with ideas and approaches that we never would have developed on our own.”
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Tags: Adolescents, Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Elizabeth Pulgarón, kids health, Mailman Center for Child Development, pediatrics, School Health Initiative, suicide