May 2024 Edition
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Apologies in advance for this long opening letter. However, the subject matter is serious, it has complexities and warrants my time to write it, and hopefully you will find some time to read it.
This May, and every May since 1949, is Mental Health Awareness Month. Once again, numerous entities, including universities across the country, push out messages on websites, social media, and offer on-campus programs to further the dialogue around the crisis that is going on in America’s collegiate athletic mental health world. You will read below a recent study conducted by the British Journal of Sports Medicine that CNN consolidated, stating suicides for U.S. college athletes has doubled in the past 20 years. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among collegiate student-athletes. There are currently at least 12 lawsuits within collegiate athletics stemming from a suicidal tragedy. These liability lawsuits from the families of the sons or daughters who committed suicide, are $10 million on the low end, and reportedly up to $50 million on the high end.
Do we need an emergency alarm to be any louder for our state and private universities to immediately take greater actions to prevent these continued tragedies?
The business world that I live in is about solving problems with solutions that create long term sustainable values. The solution for this problem is ongoing, proactive management of mental healthcare for student-athletes versus the current reactive management programs that exist at most universities. Today, most take the "older school" approach in providing more counselor resources within the athletic department and a nice EMR database program to store the data. I agree this solution is certainly better than having a limited amount of counseling with expertise dedicated to the unique needs of student-athletes. However, the programs remain acute based with continued reactive management.
Technology has improved our lives in countless ways over the decades, and specifically in the medical and healthcare markets. It is time for the leaders in college athletics to accept that proactive management in mental healthcare can only come from data converted into intelligence. Technology driven by AI has arrived to disrupt the status quo mentality, with the ability to grab key performance indictors that lead to trends, predictions, and ultimately prevention.
Mental health awareness and discussions on solutions should not be limited to the month of May. Change, and disruptive efforts for improved care needs to be a 365 day a year topic, and with a modern view of accepting technology as a viable means to improve the quality of care for collegiate student-athletes.
The fire alarm grows louder by the day. Time to jump aboard the Proactive Express Train.
Be well.
Walt Norley
OnBalance Founder & CEO
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