March 28, 2024

DMACC recognized for promoting campus emotional wellness

Des Moines Area Community College has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Kognito for its outstanding leadership in executing its mental health and suicide prevention awareness program. Kognito is a proven leader in developing conversation simulations featuring emotionally-responsive virtual students to promote emotional wellness and suicide prevention in higher education.

Kognito’s At-Risk for College and Universities simulations are used by more than 350 colleges and universities nationally, with over 57,000 faculty, staff and students taking the simulation during the 2016-2017 school year. DMACC purchased the on-line training as a result of receiving a federal Suicide Prevention grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency.

“We were successful in using a variety of strategies to encourage students to complete the training, most notably marketing the training through faculty teaching the “College Experience” course,” DMACC Counselor Dr. Melinda Graham-Hinners said.

The Kognito Award acknowledges the university’s best practices and commitment to creating and sustaining a culture of support for students suffering from mental distress in the 2016-2017 school year. DMACC won the “Winter Award” category because it trained the most students during the months of December, January and February compared to all other colleges and universities nationwide.

DMACC uses Kognito’s conversation simulation programs to improve the ability of students to approach and assist other students in psychological distress. This award recognizes DMACC’s leadership ability to engage an exceptional number of people within its campus community in the training.

“Our interactive simulations provide interactive, user-friendly, and personalized learning experiences that encourage students and faculty alike to incorporate positive change behavior into daily practice,” Brian Nido, director of client experience at Kognito said. “We are elated to recognize DMACCfor their use of our research-proven platform, and their efforts toward breaking the stigma around mental distress.”