UCLA to Host Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit
January 16, 2020 | Bruin Athletics
UCLA, along with the Pac-12 Conference, the NCAA and the David Geffen School of Medicine, will host a Student-Athlete Mental Health Summit this Thursday and Friday on campus at the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center.
The summit will feature sessions on effectiveness of mental health educational programming, mental health medical disqualification from athletic participation, management of eating disorders and substance abuse, mental health emergency action plans, exploration of models of care, psychology of injury, mental health screening, multidisciplinary management of problematic cases, and panel presentations featuring athletic directors and coaches from around the NCAA to speak on current mental health topics.
The program will bring together top clinical psychologists, physicians, athletic trainers, and administrators from across the nation to explore the important issues surrounding mental health, present new findings and discuss policies and procedures that can help better treat the mental health of athletes.
A trio of UCLA coaches, men's volleyball head coach John Speraw, football defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro and former women's gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field, will take part in a panel on Thursday entitled Promoting an Environment that Supports Mental Health and Resilience
Created in 2013, the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Health and Well-Being Initiative is a collective effort between the conference and its member universities to find ways to reduce injuries, share current best practices and latest studies, and conduct research to uncover new ways to keep student-athletes as safe as possible. Student-athlete health and safety is paramount to the Pac-12, and the Conference has taken a proactive approach to ensure the safety of its student-athletes.
