A semester into TimelyCare’s launch, student usage remains low. However, University staff say it still provides a helpful service for students.

TimelyCare is a telehealth company which provides free mental health services to University students. Services provided include scheduled counseling, psychiatric services and a 24/7 call line for students looking for immediate mental and emotional support. In spring of 2024, Murray State signed a $275,000 contract with the company to provide access to its services to Murray State students.

TimelyCare services became available for students on Aug. 19. According to Angie Trzepacz, Counseling Services director, 40 students have used the service since the start of the semester.

Trzepacz said this number is small compared to the 195 students using campus counseling services. Though Trzepacz said it is unclear if this low usage is because students are uninterested in using it, or because they are not aware the service exists.

“We did all the possible media and promotion that we could think of this semester to try to increase awareness by students, faculty, staff, parents, everybody,” Trzepacz said. “But I’m sure that a lot of students still have no idea that it exists.”

Don Robertson, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, said Murray State first looked at implementing TimelyCare services as a way of providing 24/7 mental health support to students in need. Robertson said the service could work as a supplement to the University’s counseling and psychological services during after-hours and periods when those services are closed.

“More and more students have mental health concerns and issues,” Robertson said. “We thought there was a need to expand our services particularly in nights and weekends and over breaks, and also to be able to help our regional campuses more.”

Both Trzepacz and Robertson said the introduction of TimelyCare services would particularly benefit those students studying outside the Murray State campus, and especially those out of state.

“One of the advantages of TimelyCare is that counselors are provided in all 50 states, so students that are not in Kentucky can access those services,” Trzepacz said. “Whereas the Counseling Center, all of our counselors are only licensed in Kentucky, so we are not allowed legally to practice across state lines.”

According to the numbers Trzepacz provided, of the 40 students who have used the service, only two have used it out of state, though she was unable to give the number for how many using it in Kentucky were outside of Murray. And of the 64 counseling sessions, only 12 were held outside of office hours for the Counseling Center. Of the 18 TalkNow calls held since the start of the semester, nine were held outside of office hours.

Robertson said he believes the use of TimelyCare services will become more common as the semesters continue and more people become aware of them. The number of people using the services is less important than making sure they are available.

“The word is getting out, and more and more folks know there is an alternative,” Robertson said. “You know, there was no set number that we said, ‘Well, we want to make sure X number were using it.’ We want to make sure that we’re giving everyone an opportunity to use it so that if they have a need, whether it be two in the morning or two in the afternoon, they can talk to someone.”

TimelyCare also offers limited psychiatric care services to Murray State students, something Murray State’s counseling services are unable to provide. These services include prescriptions for mental conditions limited to non-controlled substances.

The quality and accessibility of mental health services for university students has become an ever more important issue over the last few years. According to a 2023-2024 data report by the Healthy Minds Network, a research organization focused on adolescent and young adult mental health, 34% of students surveyed from participating universities showed symptoms of anxiety and 38% showed symptoms of depression. The same study found that 61% of students who tested positive on their anxiety or depression screenings had received counseling or therapy in the past 12 months.

According to the TimelyCare website, its service connects students with licensed counselors and “master-level mental health care professionals.” The truth, however, may be more complicated. According to Trzepacz, TimelyCare’s scheduled counseling always connects students with licensed counselors. However, their 24/7 care line called TalkNow may not be to the same standard.

“In terms of the licensing, with the scheduled counseling appointments those are all licensed counselors,” Trzepacz said. “But with the TalkNow appointments, the ones that are kind of on call, those are not necessarily licensed counselors. (Some) may be, and some of them are the same people doing scheduled counseling. But some of them are not licensed.”

Trzepacz said she didn’t think TalkNow’s counselor licensing was necessarily a problem. She made a comparison to 988, the suicide hotline, which does not always connect callers to licensed medical counselors. She said it is important students are made aware of the fact the individuals they speak with over TalkNow might not be licensed, and that this fact be made transparent.

For more information about TimelyCare and the University’s mental health resources, visit the Murray State website at: https://www.murraystate.edu/about/administration/StudentAffairs/departments/counseling/index.aspx