McMaster’s Arrive and Thrive – NEW MHIF

Arrive and Thrive is designed to engage students and multiple campus and community partners in the creation and implementation of a program comprised of the following three components:

1. Arrive and Thrive Online is a website that will engage students in transition to and during their attendance at university to evaluate their coping abilities, including risk for addictive behaviours, and then provide immediate feedback and linkage with resources and support on-line, on campus and in the community.
2. Pause (via Arrive and Thrive Online and McMaster partner referrals) is an opportunity for those entering or attending McMaster who are at-risk for an addiction or with maladaptive coping to meet individually with a counsellor. The counsellor will assess coping, substance use and other behaviours, and mental health concerns in a structured manner, then provide feedback, resources and referral or ongoing support, as appropriate.
3. Change the Channel (via Pause) will provide or link to campus and community counselling options for students, particularly for those with substance use issues. This will include individual and group interventions on campus and in the community and will build provider capacity on campus.

Together, these components will promote positive and adaptive coping, prevent addictive behaviours and offer appropriate, youth-centred and evidence-based interventions for students in transition to and in postsecondary environments that will close current service gaps. The program’s tools and methods will be able to be adopted individually or as a package by other secondary and post-secondary schools at its completion.