Supportive Accountability in Mental-health Mentoring of Young Adults (SAMMY-A) also known as Wellness Coaching for College Students

We are collaborating with Jean Rhodes (UMass Boston) to develop and test a mental health and academic promotion program. This novel intervention integrates supportive accountability and skills practice into college academic advising relationships through a newly developed app that connects to other wellbeing-promoting apps like Headspace, SuperBetter, and Intellicare. Lack of user-engagement is common among these mental health apps, a problem that may be exacerbated by barriers and stigma impacting various  socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups. Our team has implemented the smartphone app (MentorHub), which leverages the support and scaffolding from academic advisors to incorporate intentional skill-building and accountability to build improved academic and mental health outcomes. This is particularly crucial for the low-income, marginalized, and academically at-risk students within UMass Boston in order to help reduce the achievement gap many of these students face, particularly during remote-learning environments resulting from COVID-19. This app provides the platform for students and advisors to check-in, review progress toward goals, and encourage continued app use. We conducted a feasibility trial and may later conduct a full randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of the program in improving college student mental health and academic outcomes among at-risk college students and their academic advisors at University of Massachusetts Boston. ​​