A new public awareness program created by the South Texas Health Research Center (STHRC) at the Health Science Center is shining the spotlight on a critical problem today – depression among our young people.
The “Talk It Up, Texas” program is introducing public service announcements and outdoor advertisements about adolescent depression throughout the San Antonio area. High school students helped plan, design and shoot several PSAs over the summer. These announcements are available to television stations.
This depression awareness campaign for adolescents in Bexar County is aimed at reducing the impact of depression in adolescents, their families and the community. The program will serve as a model for future prevention programs for adolescents, spurring interaction and increasing access to mental health facilities and professionals.
Depression affects as many as 1 in 5 teenagers and statistics show that only about 20 percent get treated. The goal is to increase awareness about this illness through an education campaign that promotes communication about mental health issues such as depression.
Preliminary studies by the STHRC showed that when teens have a problem like depression, the first group of people they turn to are their peers. As a result, the key component of the “Talk It Up” program is a peer facilitator format that allows students to interact with and help one another. Additional education components target school counselors, teachers and parents.
One goal of the “Talk it Up” program is to raise awareness among the Hispanic community about available clinical services within the University Health System and at the Nix Behavioral Health Center and the Center for Health Care Services.
The STHRC was created in 1989 with the goal of improving the health status and health care of Hispanics and the underserved populations of the 41 counties in South Texas. Since then, the center has tackled these issues through health promotion and disease prevention, professional education, policy development and research.
For more information on the STHRC or “Talk it Up,” contact Laura Fornos, (210) 567-7821.
Contact:
Will SansomPhone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail:
Sansom@uthscsa.edu
