Area college students soon could be learning about improving their mental health while they expand their minds.

The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation in Hudson recently awarded Coleman Professional Services $96,000 to launch mental-health awareness programs at colleges throughout the region.

The nonprofit Coleman Professional Services, based in Kent, provides behavioral health and rehabilitation programs throughout Northeast Ohio.

The project's goal is to raise understanding about mental illnesses, as well as their warning signs and available treatments and support resources, said Meghan Urbon, a Coleman public relations executive and coordinator of the College Campus Mental Health Awareness Initiative.

''Our goal is to inform, edu
cate and advocate about mental illness,'' she said.

By fall, the agency wants to provide a public-awareness program at four or five universities in Summit, Stark, Portage and Trumbull counties.

The initiative probably could be included in the colleges' existing programs, including freshman orientation and diversity and leadership training, Urbon said.

Though many colleges already talk about such mental health issues as depression, stress and signs of suicide, the type and amount of information shared with students varies from campus to campus, Urbon said.

The college years can be a stressful time, when people often are on their own for the first time and face questions about their own future, she said.

It's also a time when young adults — the leaders of tomorrow — are open to new ideas and new information, Urbon said.

Foundation President Rick Kellar said the college-age audience probably is more receptive than others to messages that erase the stigma of mental illness.

The foundation wants people to view mental illness the same way as any other illness.

''We're really, truly trying to create a new generation of thinking of how people with mental illness are perceived,'' he said.

At the same time, he said, the effort can make college campuses safer by giving people information about the warning signs and ways to help those who need it.

Coleman Professional Services kicked off the initiative by contracting with the University of Akron's Institute for Health and Social Policy to conduct 10 focus groups on college campuses throughout the region. UA researchers will talk to groups of 10 to 15 students at a time, said Dr. Peter Leahy, senior research associate for the institute.

''What we're trying to do for Coleman is determine students' awareness of mental health issues, their knowledge of treatment options available to them and also students' preferences about how they'd like to get information about mental health issues,'' he said.

Using the results, Coleman will work with a curriculum director and the mental health and recovery boards in Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties to develop outreach programs.

Mental illness is more common than many people realize.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates mental illness affects one in five families in America.

''It's something that people a lot of times say, 'It's not me. It's not my family,' '' Urbon said. '' . . . I suspect a lot of people may not know some of the areas they could go for help.''