The House Wellness Tutor program, piloted this year in Adams, Currier, and Dunster Houses, will be expanded into several other Houses next year.

UHS Center for Wellness and Health Communication Manager Keli M. Ballinger, who is also the Dunster wellness tutor, wrote in an e-mail that over the year, she provided students with personal assistance in navigating mental health resources at Harvard as well as providing general information to the House community.

Herbstman noted that overall, the changes have had a positive impact for students. “I feel like everybody gets the sense that things at Harvard are being shaken up and examined, and that the changes that have been made are in students’ best interest.”

Still, according to both Ballinger and Herbstman, the greatest challenge lies in changing students’ perceptions about mental health. “It’s not the resources. It’s the stigma about accessing those resources that needs to be addressed,” Herbstman said.

MHAAG co-chair Daniel J. Foti ’06 added that the “next step for MHS is a major publicity campaign.”

—Staff writer Anna M. Friedman can be reached at amfriedm@fas.harvard.edu.