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Fall Out of Stress Fest: Turning a New Leaf on the Perceptions of Mental Health Issues

Michael Liu

Carolina Martinez

Ariana Romio

Vanessa Sanchez

Veronica Valdez

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Table of Contents

Situation Analysis 3

SWOT 4

Problem Statement 5

Objectives 6

Target Audience 7

Implementaton 8

Event Stations 9-11

Speaker Outline: Kevin Breel 12-13

Evaluation 14-16

Appendix – Event timeline 17

Pre-campaign Survey 18

Post-campaign Survey 19

Posters 20-24

Pinterest Board 2

Shirt Design 25

Pinterest Board 32-34

Social Media Posts 27-29

Budget 30-31

Volunteer Sign-up Sheets 32-34

Time Sheets 35-36

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Situation Analysis

It’s Up to Us is a campaign intended to break the stigma on mental health, and

instead encourage people to freely talk about mental illnesses and understand the

resources available for help. The County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services

Agency spearheaded the campaign. It supports San Diego County’s Live Well San Diego

initiative to promote a healthy and secure community.

According to San Diego State University’s Counseling and Psychological

Services, in 2012, 18 percent of SDSU students reported three to five days of academic

impairment from mental health concerns. It’s Up to Us has a specific niche for young

adults, i.e., SDSU students. The campaign targets young adults by encouraging them to

recognize mental health symptoms in themselves and in friends. Some of the symptoms

include, but are not limited to: drug and/or alcohol abuse, long-lasting sadness, social

withdrawal, frequent outbursts of anger and suicidal thoughts.

One of It’s Up to Us’ main goals is to prevent suicide and to help others

understand the warning signs. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness,

“Ninety percent of those who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness.” It

encourages supporters to ask the tough questions, stay involved and take all statements

involving suicide seriously.

It’s Up to Us provides a myriad of resources for seeking out help. It provides a

24/7 crisis hotline, live chat available Monday – Friday 4 -10 p.m. and several direct links

to websites which offer similar services in San Diego.

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SWOT

Strengths

Local nonprofit that is partnered with

national and local organizations

including the County of San Diego

Health and Human Services Agency

Already established social media

accounts on multiple platforms with

substantial following

Strong brand awareness

Wide variety of resources available

including offer of support, ways to

recognize symptoms, live-chat

support and 24/7 crisis line

Transparent organization that fosters

open communication about mental

illness

Weaknesses

Restricted amount of funds per the

County of San Diego Mental Health

Services Act

Weak social engagement with

following

Organization solely operates online

Rare volunteer opportunities; limited

amount of events

Opportunities

Relatable among college students

Strong and supportive community

surrounding the issue

Threats

Stigma surrounding mental health; not

many people will talk about it

Local nonprofit that doesn’t have

national recognition

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Problem Statement

It’s Up to Us focuses on providing helpful resources and mental health awareness,

but not enough is done for the matter on college campuses. Mental health issues keep

rising, particularly between the ages of 18-24 according to a report from Anxiety

Disorders Association of America. In addition, 75 percent of all individuals with an

anxiety disorder will experience symptoms before age 22. Depression and anxiety among

college students is a prevalent problem that is often dismissed. It is important to provide

adequate services for the increasing number of students who suffer from the ongoing

battle of mental health disorders on college campuses.

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Objectives

1. To increase awareness of the It’s Up to Us campaign by 10 percent in one month.

2. To increase donations for the It’s Up to Us campaign by 10 percent in one month.

3. To increase membership of the It’s Up to Us campaign by five percent in one

month.

4. To increase following of the It’s Up to Us campaign’s social media platforms by

five percent in one mont

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Target Audience

Our target audience is any currently enrolled SDSU student, ideally the student will be:

18 to 25 years old

Enrolled full time or part time at the university

Active participant in campus-wide events; might be a member of campus clubs

and organizations

Is sociable; they have a large group of friends that will attend the event with them

Both an active and aware public that might be affected by stress or any other

mental health disorder

o Is willing and able to donate to It’s Up to Us

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Implementation

Premise:

One of the main objectives of the event is to increase knowledge about mental

health disabilities and to lower the stigmas associated with the topic. The Fall Out of

Stress Fest: Turning a New Leaf on the Perceptions of Mental Health Issues promotes

awareness by providing facts to attendees in hopes to have them learn more about the

issues of mental health disabilities, such as suicide prevention, and will offer solutions to

help individuals cope with their own struggles.

The It’s Up to Us campaign will partner with Counseling and Psychological

Services and the Aztec Recreation Center to help promote this event. The event will have

multiple booths, each containing an activity that will help participants relieve stress. The

booths will be: It’s Up to Us info booth, Counseling and Psychological Services,

pumpkin carving station, a pumpkin smashing station, a paint station, a therapy dog

station, massage therapists, breathing techniques station and an area for yoga sessions.

Each station will have volunteers educate participants about the risks involved with

internalizing stress.

As a final part of the event, a guest speaker named Kevin Breel who is an

American comedian will deliver a hilarious and heartfelt dialogue about mental health.

Breel dealt with depression, which makes him ideal as he relates to the topic. He seeks to

educate students by delivering speeches that open up with humor before diving into

difficult topics of in to the issues of depression, self injury, suicide and addiction.

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Stations

It’s Up to Us info booth

o Representatives from It’s Up to Us to give information on the

organization.

o This booth will also contain brochures regarding mental health and

support

Counseling and Psychological Services info booth

o Representatives from Counseling and Psychological Services to

give information on the services.

Massage therapists station

o Participants will get messages from professionals to help relieve

physical stress.

o Massages are on a first come, first served basis. They are limited to

10-minute sessions.

Paint balloon station

o Participants at this station will throw darts at balloons filled with

paint on an easel with the goal of popping them. We will put the

easel on a sectioned-off part of Campanile Walkway with a tarp

underneath to ensure easy cleaning.

o We will fill the small balloons with paint before the event.

o Each participant will get three chances to throw darts.

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o Once the event is over, we will allow the easel to dry, then write

the name of the event and date. We will donate the art to

Counseling and Psychological Services.

Pumpkin carving station

o People will have the opportunity to carve pumpkins with the

stencils provided or design their pumpkin however they want.

o The participants keep the pumpkin they carved. Once a participant

is done at the station, we will clean any residual mess, then set out

a new pumpkin for a new participant.

Pumpkin smashing station

o At this booth, we will give participants tools to smash pumpkins to

relieve stress. Participants will smash pumpkins on a tarp to ensure

easy cleaning.

o We will section off a part of Campanile Walkway for this station

so other students do not get hit by the pumpkins. We will also give

participants eye protection.

o Periodically during the event, we will clean up any pieces of

pumpkin that go outside the tarp.

o Once the event is over, we will gather the tarp and all the smashed

pumpkins and properly dispose the materials.

Therapy dog station

o Participants are able to interact with a dog to relieve stress.

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Yoga sessions

o The ARC will provide a yoga instructor to the participants to enjoy

a quick yoga session. We will buy yoga mats.

o We will set out the mats on a sectioned off part of Campanile

Walkway. Participation is on a first come, first served basis.

o The instructor will teach 15-minute sessions for the duration of the

event.

Theory:

Through the two-step flow model, the event will use Kevin Breel as a medium to

communicate the issues surrounding mental health to the student participants in hopes to

help eliminate some stigmas surrounding that topic.

Results:

Through the Fall out of Stress Fest: Turning a New Leaf on the Perceptions of

Mental Illness, the event committee hopes to reach their goal of reducing stigmas

surrounding mental health issues. The event intends for more students to feel comfortable

with talking to health professionals about their issues when in comes to stress. The event

committee hopes to increase knowledge of the It’s Up to Us campaign by 10 percent by

the end of the event.

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Kevin Breel’s Topics

Stand Up to Mental Health

Bringing warmth and unparalleled honesty in to a topic people tend not to talk

about, Breel delivers a hilarious and heartfelt dialogue about mental health. Opening up

with humor before diving in to difficult topics of in to the issues of depression, self-

injury, suicide and addiction. Breel brings an uplifting perspective and an empowering

message of honesty, hope and help. Inviting and encouraging others in to having an

honest conversation around the things people tend not to talk about, Kevin is a beacon of

hope for any young person struggling with a mental health issue. And, with suicide as the

third leading cause of death in people between the ages of 15-24, there are a lot of young

people struggling with mental health issues. But so much gets lost in the numbers and the

term suicide prevention. Breel brings honesty and humanity to the real stories of people

that lay behind the statistics. In a way that is eye opening and inspiring, Breel talks about

how we can create positive change in the mental health communities and encourage

honest conversations. Bringing an uplifting, empowering, and inspiring energy to topics

people tend not to talk about, Breel is a one of a kind speaker and performer.

Topics addressed in this talk:

o What mental health is

o How to understand and help a friend who might be dealing with depression

addiction, self injury or suicide

o Acceptance, self love, and empathy for others

o How to find hope and find help during difficult seasons in your life

o How to handle adversity, pain, and be resilient in tough times

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o Encouraging honest conversations and finding a sense of community in your

school and in your life

o Knowing when and where to seek help and how to ask for it

o Becoming educated on how mental health role in society and school

Reviews:

“For a young man to be so insightful, so wise and so articulate, Breel is absolutely

going to change the world.” - Tony Gaskins Jr., as seen on Oprah and Good Morning

America

“I teach at an alternative school where all the kids have had a difficult past before

coming here. Breel’s message helped our staff see exactly how we can connect with our

students and what opportunities we were completely missing in order to best help them.

Mental health issues are now prevalent in our culture with youth, and Breel’s message

was incredibly helpful to all of us here as to what we can do to help.” - Jan Riddel,

teacher and youth worker

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Evaluation

We expect a high level of success for our Fall Out of Stress Fest: Turning a New

Leaf on the Perceptions of Mental Health Issues at SDSU. After conducting several

events on campus and implementing a survey for students to take, we expect that it will

raise awareness and generate interest to the It’s Up to Us campaign.

Social media success will be recorded and measured by the usage of various

social media platform analytic systems such as Facebook insights and Hootsuite. We will

compare those numbers with social media engagement after those events have taken

place.

Currently, the It’s Up to Us Facebook page (@Up2SD) has 15,176 likes, the It’s

Up to Us Twitter account (@Up2SD) has 266 followers and there is currently no It’s Up

to Us Instagram account.

After the event, the social media follower count will increase by engaging with

students online, posting more frequently and having an overall presence on each

individual social media site. We expect that social media engagement will go up by at

least 5 percent.

We will use a post-campaign and pre-campaign survey to measure the results of

the event. The surveys conducted will gauge the awareness level of mental health issues

on campus. After the event, we hope that the awareness level of the organization will

increase by 10 percent. For the pre-campaign survey, our target audience was asked three

to five questions based on their knowledge of mental health issues.

Have you heard of the It’s Up to Us campaign?

How knowledgeable are you on the topic of mental health?

Do you know who to talk to when suffering with stress?

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Do you know about the helpful resources if going through stress?

With the pre-campaign survey, we expect about 7 - 10 percent of student to have

knowledge of It’s Up to Us campaign. For the post-campaign survey, we expect a 10

percent increase in students awareness of the It’s Up to Us campaign.

Post-campaign Survey:

We will give the post-campaign survey link on Survey Monkey when participants

are leaving the event to gauge if the awareness level has increased or decreased. We will

ask participants questions:

How stressed were they as students

If they learned anything they found valuable about mental health

If they feel more confident about the knowledge surrounding mental health issues

If students were feeling stressed, what their confident level is talking to a

professional about the mental health issues that come with stress

If they know where to go if one is feeling stressed and needs to talk about it

How stressed were they before and after the event

Recommendations:

To increase health benefits and heighten the future of this campaign, we

recommend more recipients immerse themselves in other new activities that can distress

and reduce their anxieties. One event that we will propose to create is an event called

Mindful Meditation. This meditation exercise will explore and give students instructions

for attention-to-breathe exercises to combat stress. Another event we recommend offering

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is a Relaxation Station. Students can create sugar scrubs, bath salts and aroma reeds.

With these activities, students can extend their knowledge of mental health issues and

cope with negative side effects of stress.

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Appendix

Pre-event timeline:

Oct. 7 Book Breel’s appearance

Oct. 14 Send out first Twitter post to promote event

Oct. 17 Book Counseling and Psychological Services

Oct. 28 Reserve Campanile Walkway

Oct. 28 Book ARC yoga instructor

Oct. 31 Book therapy dog

Oct. 31 Post volunteer flyers

Nov. 1 Send out Facebook post to promote event

Nov. 2 Book massage therapists

Nov. 2 Book rentals: pop-up tents, tables and chairs

Nov. 2 Design and order shirts

Nov. 2 Create posters

Nov. 3 Send out second Twitter post to promote event

Nov. 3 Buy materials: yoga mats, pumpkin-carving kits, easel, canvas, tarps, eye

protection, paint, balloons, funnels, darts, stress balls, etc.

Nov. 4 Create survey on Survey Monkey for pre and post-campaign surveys

Nov. 7 Send out second Facebook post to promote event

Nov. 17 Distribute shirts to volunteers and staff

Nov. 17 Send out Twitter and Facebook posts to promote event

Nov. 17 Buy pumpkins

Day-of-event timeline

9 a.m. Send out Twitter and Facebook posts to promote event

9:30 a.m. Booth set up

10 a.m. Section off areas on Campanile Walkway for pumpkin smashing,

balloon paint station and yoga

10:30 a.m. Set up podium and chairs for Breel’s talk

11 a.m. Set up materials at individual stations

11:30 a.m. Massage therapist arrives, sets up at station

11:30 a.m. Yoga instructor arrives, sets up at station

Noon Event beings

Noon – 3 p.m. Volunteers help at each station, monitor cleaning and answer any

questions

Noon – 3 p.m. Volunteers get attendees to take pre and post-event surveys

2 p.m. Breel’s talk begins

2:50 p.m. Breel’s talk ends

3 p.m. Event ends

3 – 4:30 p.m. Clean and clear areas

3:30 p.m. Rental services take pop-up tents, tables and chairs

4:30 p.m. Allow paint to dry, take dried canvas to Counseling and

Psychological Services

5 p.m. Final Twitter and Facebook posts

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Pre-campaign survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/P6XT9

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Post-campaign Survey

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Posters

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Shirt Design

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Pinterest Board

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Social Media Posts

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Budget

Item Quantity

Unit

Amount Total

Pumpkins 50 $3.99 $199.50

Banquet plastic

tables 8

$9.15

$73.20

Plastic folding

chairs 50

$1.25

$62.50

Pumpkin-carving kit 10

$6.99

$69.99

Yoga mats 10 $8.99 $89.99

Pop-up tents 4

$87

$348

Customized stress

balls 150

97 cents

$145.50

Set up fee for stress

balls 1

$55

$55

Guest speaker 1 $6,900 $6,900

Therapy dog rental 1

$400

$400

Flyers 150 33 cents $49.50

T-shirts 25 $16.43 $410.75

Acrylic 12 pack

paint (2 oz.) 1

$7.99

$7.99

Pack of balloons (72

count) 1

$4.99

$4.99

Blank extra large

canvas 1

$59.49

$59.49

3 pack funnels 1 $1 $1

Plastic eye

protection 5

$6.82

$34.10

Dart set (set of 6) 1 $4.97 $4.97

Box of latex gloves 1

$2.99

$2.99

Easel 1 $11.59 $11.59

Canvas drop cloth 2 $13.85 $27.70

Scotch transparent

duct tape 1

$6.19

$6.19

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Podium rental 1 $183.75 $183.75

Massage therapist 3

$150 (per

hour, per

therapist) $1,350

Yoga instructor 1

$150 (per

hour) $450

TOTAL $10,946.69

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Volunteer Sign-Up Sheet

Name Email Phone Number

Pumpkin Carving Station

Yoga Station

Therapy Dog Station

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Pumpkin Smashing Station

Massage Station

Breathing Techniques Station

Floaters

Assisting Kevin Breel

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Paint Balloon Station

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Time sheets

Name Date Hours Work done

Total cost at

$55 an hour:

Michael Liu Oct. 25 2 hours Group meeting $440

Oct. 29 2 hours Group meeting

Nov. 1 2 hours Speaker information

Nov. 2 2 hours Final look through

Carolina

Martinez Oct. 25 1 hour Group meeting $550

Oct. 31 1 hour Group meeting

Oct. 31 3 hours

Situation analysis, social media

posts and shirt design

Nov. 2 2 hours

Final look though, editing for AP

Style and GSP

Nov. 3 3 hours Final edits

Ariana

Romio Oct. 25 2 hours Group meeting $385

Nov. 1 3 hours

Time log, objectives, target

audience and SWOT

Nov. 2 2 hours SWOT and objectives

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Name

Date

Hours

Work done

Total cost at

$55 an hour:

Vanessa

Sanchez Oct. 25 1 hour Group meeting $385

Oct. 28 2 hours Problem statement and flyer

Oct. 31 3 hours Group meeting and budget

Nov. 1 1 hour Budget

Veronica

Valdez Oct. 25 1 hour Group meeting $385

Oct. 28 2 hours Evaluation

Nov. 1 2 hours Pre and post-campaign surveys

Nov. 2 2 hours Recommendations