NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University President Dr. Chris Maggio has been invited to serve on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Advance Mental Health Best Practices Strategies task force.
Maggio, who is a former student-athlete and coach, will attend meetings in Indianapolis Nov. 9-10 sponsored by the NCAA Sport Science Institute. The task force will identify strategies to support the implementation of the Mental Health Best Practices document released by the NCAA Sport Science Institute in January 2016.
“Objectives of the meeting are to identify strategies to operationalize existing best practices, identify existing education tools and models of care and identify emerging issues not already addressed with the inclusion of minority health interests and a broader range of campus stake holders,” Maggio said. “The opportunity to serve on this panel provides opportunities for positive, meaningful input on these important issues from Northwestern and the Southland Conference.”
Last year, the NCAA Sport Science Institute and leading mental health organizations across the country developed a seminal publication in support of college athlete mental health and wellness, “Inter-Association Consensus Document: Best Practices for Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness (Mental Health Best Practices).”
An outcome of the NCAA Mental Health Task Force and a practical extension of the NCAA publication “Mind, Body and Sport: Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness,” the Mental Health Best Practices was developed and endorsed by 25 of the most prominent medical, higher education and sports medicine organizations in the nation and designed to offer resource-independent recommendations for member schools to support and promote student-athlete mental health in partnership with campus stakeholders.
More information is available at ncaa.org/sport-science-institute.
