Abstract

Mental health awareness in community colleges is emerging as a critical concern with the increase in depression and anxiety among the students they serve. Rural colleges often serve a diverse population, many of whom have socioeconomic challenges, including financial instability and family responsibility. Within the State of Alabama, approximately 24.3% of young adults receiving Medicaid were diagnosed with depression and 61.8% did not receive any mental health care in 2020 (State of Alabama Public Health, 2022). In addition, Alabama’s suicide rate among young adults is ranked 13% above the national rate (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024)

Author Details

Dr. Anita Boutwell, DNP (c), Graduate Samford University 2025. Affiliations: Coastal Alabama Community College and Southwest Alabama Behavioral Health Services

Sigma Membership

Gamma Eta

Lead Author Affiliation

Coastal Alabama Community College, Bay Minette, Alabama, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quality Improvement

Research Approach

Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice

Keywords:

Mental Health, Community College, Young Adult

Advisor

Mary Annette Hess

Second Advisor

Lynette Ruckman

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Samford University

Degree Year

2025

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Educational Material

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Full Text of Presentation

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Additional Files

Abstract.pdf (105 kB)

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