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This network of campus signage and programming is designed to reach Blazers in need

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  • August 31, 2022

cares art streamYou’ve probably seen the signs and murals in parking decks and near campus buildings featuring a bright white hand and the phrase “You are not alone.” These prominently displayed reminders are part of the UAB Cares Suicide Prevention Initiative, which aims to support and assist the entire UAB community — no matter who they are — in finding the help they need and ensuring they know they are important and matter. And there’s more to UAB Cares than just campus signage: It includes resources for suicide education, prevention, intervention, response, follow-up and postvention.

For its service to the Blazer community, the UAB Cares Suicide Prevention Initiative recently was selected as a recipient of the American College Health Association’s Best Practices in College Health Award for 2021-22, which recognizes exemplary, innovative and inspirational practices in college health. Read more on UAB News.

“What makes UAB Cares unique is that our enterprise-wide approach leaves no UAB community member behind and meets any Blazer where they are in needing help and resources,” said Angela Stowe, Ph.D., director of Student Counseling Services. “I’m so proud that UAB has invested such significant resources in suicide prevention, and UAB Cares is the result of hard work over a years-long period.” 

Use this map to find the UAB Cares signage nearest you.

uab cares sign squareWhere it began

To create UAB Cares, a taskforce of administrators, faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students reviewed evidence-based suicide-prevention approaches, identified a theoretical model to guide recommendations, benchmarked against other institutions, audited existing programs and services at UAB, identified opportunities and conducted a needs assessment of undergraduate, graduate and professional students about their perceptions of mental health support of UAB, as well as their needs.

The signage was funded by the UAB Employee Assistance and Counseling Center, Parking and Transportation, Graduate Student Government, and the 2020 Alabama Higher Education Suicide Prevention Program Grant from the Alabama Department of Public Health, awarded to UAB Student Counseling Services. Learn more at uab.edu/uabcares.

Published in Campus Safety