Responses to Policy-Driven Funding-Loss Stress in Academic Environments
Location
LSUHSC-NO
Publication Date
April 2026
Start Date
9-4-2026 10:00 AM
End Date
9-4-2026 2:00 PM
Description
In February 2025, the Campus Assistance Program (CAP) at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans observed a substantial increase in mental health service utilization following a routine Interactive Screening Program (ISP) outreach email. While the same outreach in February 2024 generated four ISP responses, the 2025 outreach resulted in 34 ISP completions within 72 hours, indicating a sharp rise in help-seeking behavior.
Self-reported stressors in 2025 included Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and/or policy-related stress (26%}, family stress (35%), work stress (32%), financial stress (21%}, and no written stressor (24%). These patterns contrasted with 2024 responses, which included DEIA and/or policy stress (3%}, family stress (48%), work stress (64%), financial stress (23%}, and no written stressor (17%). Percentages exceed 100% as 35% of respondents in 2025 and 43% in 2024 endorsed two or more stressor categories. Compared to the prior year, these findings reflect a marked increase in stress associated with external policy shifts and funding instability within academic environments which is consistent with nationwide patterns of funding concerns (Brint, 2025; Crockett, 2025).
In response, CAP implemented a two-pronged intervention strategy. First, we developed a printable toolkit, Self-Care, Navigating Funding Cuts, and Mental Health: A Practical Guide to Impractical Circumstances, offering concrete, actionable guidance for individuals experiencing funding loss. Second, CAP launched a campus-wide workshop series designed to provide role specific spaces (e.g., graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty) for processing distress, fostering peer connection, and supporting planning amid career uncertainty and perceived shifts in institutional values.
This presentation examines how academic Employee Assistance Programs can act as an early mental health intervention to policy driven funding crises by explicitly addressing structural and values-based distress, expanding trauma- informed practices, and providing tools that promote individual agency while acknowledging systemic harm. Attendees will leave with a replicable, EAP-led intervention framework for supporting mental health during periods of collective instability in higher education.
Recommended Citation
Moody, Shannin N.; Diaz, Aleyda; Hannon, Kaci; Hoehne, Nancy BA; Davis, Shauntel; and Bishop-Baier, Margaret, "Responses to Policy-Driven Funding-Loss Stress in Academic Environments" (2026). Dept. of Psychiatry Research Symposium. 27.
https://digitalscholar.lsuhsc.edu/psych_rd/2026/posters/27
Responses to Policy-Driven Funding-Loss Stress in Academic Environments
LSUHSC-NO
In February 2025, the Campus Assistance Program (CAP) at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans observed a substantial increase in mental health service utilization following a routine Interactive Screening Program (ISP) outreach email. While the same outreach in February 2024 generated four ISP responses, the 2025 outreach resulted in 34 ISP completions within 72 hours, indicating a sharp rise in help-seeking behavior.
Self-reported stressors in 2025 included Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and/or policy-related stress (26%}, family stress (35%), work stress (32%), financial stress (21%}, and no written stressor (24%). These patterns contrasted with 2024 responses, which included DEIA and/or policy stress (3%}, family stress (48%), work stress (64%), financial stress (23%}, and no written stressor (17%). Percentages exceed 100% as 35% of respondents in 2025 and 43% in 2024 endorsed two or more stressor categories. Compared to the prior year, these findings reflect a marked increase in stress associated with external policy shifts and funding instability within academic environments which is consistent with nationwide patterns of funding concerns (Brint, 2025; Crockett, 2025).
In response, CAP implemented a two-pronged intervention strategy. First, we developed a printable toolkit, Self-Care, Navigating Funding Cuts, and Mental Health: A Practical Guide to Impractical Circumstances, offering concrete, actionable guidance for individuals experiencing funding loss. Second, CAP launched a campus-wide workshop series designed to provide role specific spaces (e.g., graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty) for processing distress, fostering peer connection, and supporting planning amid career uncertainty and perceived shifts in institutional values.
This presentation examines how academic Employee Assistance Programs can act as an early mental health intervention to policy driven funding crises by explicitly addressing structural and values-based distress, expanding trauma- informed practices, and providing tools that promote individual agency while acknowledging systemic harm. Attendees will leave with a replicable, EAP-led intervention framework for supporting mental health during periods of collective instability in higher education.