Preliminary Round
New for 2023 – 2024
Tallo has been replaced with the HOSA Digital Upload System.
The requirement for Be There Certification has been removed and has been added as a suggested
resource instead.
These guidelines are written for ILC. States may modify events or have different event processes and deadlines.
Be sure to check with your Local/State Advisor (or state website) to determine how the event is implemented for
the regional/area or state conference.
Editorial updates have been made.
Event Summary
The Mental Health Promotion event provides HOSA members with an introduction to Mental Health topics with a
grounding in prevention. The event is built on the understanding that “mental health IS health” and that we must
think about taking care of our mental health just as we do our physical health.
This competitive event consists of a team of 2 to 6 members. Teams will create and publish a social media
campaign for their peers centered on building and promoting protective factors around a selected mental health
topic. This social media campaign will be pre-judged digitally prior to ILC. Teams will present their social media
campaign and process to a panel of judges at ILC. This event aims to provide information on how to support
someone struggling with their mental health and to inspire future health professionals to promote the importance of
mental health in their schools and communities.
General Rules
1. Competitors in this event must be active members of HOSA in good standing.
2. Eligible Divisions: Secondary and Postsecondary/Collegiate members are eligible to compete in this event.
3. Competitors must be familiar with and adhere to the “General Rules and Regulations of the HOSA Competitive
Events Program (GRR)."
Suggested Event Resources
4. CVS Health Mental Health and Well-being
5. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website
A. Risk & Protective Factors for Youth
B. Risk & Protective Factors
6. Jed Foundation
7. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Protecting Youth Mental Health
8. Mental Health.gov
9. Be There Certification
Identify a Mental Health Consultant
10. Teams will identify a Mental Health Consultant who will support their participation in this Mental Health
Promotion event. Consultants could include a school mental health professional (i.e.: counselor, nurse,
psychologist, etc.), or community mental health professional. If none of these consultants are available, the
local HOSA advisor can serve in this role.
HOSA Mental Health Promotion Guidelines (August 2023) Page 1 of 5
11. The purpose of the Mental Health Consultant is to provide competitors oversight of project content and to offer
support and guidance.
12. The Mental Health Consultation form is found on page 6 of the guidelines and must be included as part of the
digital upload as described below.
Identify Risk and/or Protective Factors for Mental Health within Social Media Campaign
13. Teams will focus on risk and/or protective factors for youth. Learn more about risk and protective factors
and view a listing of specific factors here.
14. The risk and/or protective factors can be selected based on the team’s interest and/or on a needs
assessment/evaluation of their school/community and the desire to address a particular topic with their
peers.
15. Teams should work with their Mental Health Consultant to identify an appropriate youth topic and risk
and/or protective factors related to the topic. As EXAMPLES, the below two example scenarios are
outlined:
A. Working with the Mental Health Consultant, your team discovers that there are a large number of
“people who are cutting for self-harm” in your school. Some risk factors of self-harm are identified
as bullying, peer conflict, and witnessing violence in the home. The team decides to focus the
social media campaign on ways to navigate bullying and solve peer conflicts.
B. Your team is interested in the impact social isolation has had on teens at your school. Working
with the Mental Health Consultant, you discover that many teens are showing signs of depression.
Your team decides to focus your social media campaign on engagement and connections with
others through school extracurricular activities, as this has been identified as a protective factor for
depression.
Develop a Social Media Campaign for Peers
16. Using the team’s chosen topic and identified risk and/or protective factors, teams will develop a social
media campaign to educate their peers on this topic.
17. The social media campaign may include photos, videos, interviews, graphics, animations, cartoons, audio,
blogs, tweets, or any other appropriate form of original social media content to convey the educational
message desired by the team. Teams may create original content or enhance something existing.
Connected to 16b above, EXAMPLES may be:
a. Series of photos highlighting students feeling connected and engaged during extracurricular
activities at school.
b. Series of short video interviews of different friends from school who are involved in different school
activities, explaining how a wide range of options has benefitted their emotional wellness (i.e.:
HOSA member, drama club member, football player, Science Olympiad member).
c. Series of TikTok videos or social media reels showing what the importance of engagement in
school activities looks like, sounds like, and/or feels like.
18. Teams will establish the timeline and method for implementing the social media campaign. Materials may
be shared on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Vimeo, websites, etc. The timeline and
methods will be shared as part of the round two presentation. Connected to example 16b above, AN
EXAMPLE may be:
a. The social media campaign will be shared on each team member’s Instagram profile, as well as the
local HOSA chapter’s Instagram account during the month of January, so all posts and content can
be shared back-to-back. There will be a minimum of 31 posts, one per day, for the month.
19. Teams will compile a Reference Page(s) citing all literature used in the development of the Social Media
Campaign. American Psychological Association (APA) is the preferred resource in Health Science. Points
HOSA Mental Health Promotion Guidelines (August 2023) Page 2 of 5
will be awarded for compiling a clean, legible reference page(s), but the formatting of the reference page(s),
is not judged. The Reference Page(s) will be included as part of the digital upload as described below.
Preliminary Round Submission - REQUIRED Digital Upload
20. The following item(s) MUST be uploaded by ONE member of the team to the HOSA Digital Upload
System by December 1:
● The submission should include the Mental Health Consultation Form (p. 6 of the International
HOSA guidelines)
● Summary of the risk/and or protective factors the group will be focusing on, and a timeline and
methods for implementing the campaign
● Reference page.
December 1 by 7:00pm CST is the final deadline and there will be NO EXCEPTIONS to receipt of the
required materials after the deadline.
21. Detailed instructions for uploading materials can be found at:
https://hosa.org/competitive-event-digital-uploads/
HOSA Mental Health Promotion Guidelines (August 2023) Page 3 of 5
Mental Health Promotion: Mental Health Consultation Form
Competitor’s Names: __________________________________________________________________
School: ____________________________ HOSA Advisor Name: ______________________________
Mental Health Consultant: ___________________________ Title: ____________________________
Date(s) of Total Time Spent Topic(s) Discussed Consultant Signature:
Consultation: Meeting with
Consultant:
Thank you for taking this time to consult with HOSA-Future Health Professionals Competitors! Please help them
improve by providing the following feedback. HOSA members are responsible for this form as part of their event
requirements, so please return it to them at the end of their learning experience.
Objectives to Evaluate Exceeds Expectation Met Expectation Needs Improvement
Competitors effectively
explained HOSA to Mental
Health Consultant
The team exhibited
sufficient background
knowledge of their
school/community needs to
support engaging
conversations
The team exhibited
sufficient background
knowledge of mental health
to support engaging
conversations
Competitors contributed
effective ideas and were
receptive to suggestions
regarding how, when and
where to seek additional
help
Competitor conducted
themselves professionally
at all times
Additional Information
(optional advice for these
future health professionals)
HOSA Mental Health Promotion Guidelines (August 2023) Page 4 of 5
Mental Health Promotion – Judge’s Rating Sheet
Section # _______________ Division: ______ SS ______ PS/Collegiate
Team #: ________________ Judge’s Signature_____________________________
A. Social Media Excellent Good Average Fair Poor JUDGE
Campaign Digital 10 points 8 points 6 points 4 points 0 points SCORE
Submission
1. Mental Health The Mental Health The Mental
Consultation Form Consultation form is Health
submitted and Consultation
complete. N/A N/A N/A Form is
incomplete OR
was not
submitted.
2. Reference Page(s) The reference page(s) Reference
included in the digital page(s) not
submission N/A N/A N/A included in the
digital
submission.
B. Social Media Excellent Good Average Fair Poor JUDGE
Campaign 15 points 12 points 9 points 6 points 0 points SCORE
Content
1. Risk and/or The risk and/or A description of the The understanding The risk and/or No evidence of
protective factors protective factors risk and/or protective of the risk and/or protective factors understanding
identified by the team factors are provided protective factors are not clearly of the risk
are exceptionally but some small are average and not communicated and/or
clear and are details are lacking. fully threaded into throughout the protective
centered as the focus the campaign. campaign factors.
of the campaign.
2. Timeline and The team clearly The team explained The team failed
Method explained the the timeline for to describe a
timeline for implementation of timeline and
implementing their the social media method for
social media NA campaign but NA sharing the
campaign and the questions remain social media
methods for sharing regarding sharing campaign.
the content with their the information.
peers.
HOSA Mental Health Promotion Guidelines (August 2023) Page 5 of 5
