I
On a mission
– QMU’s new
approach to
supporting
mental
wellbeing
N RECENT YEARS, there has been a marked increase in the
number of students who are struggling with mental health
issues during their student journey. For some people, poor
mental health may even prevent individuals from progressing
to university level education, with many therefore unable to
fulfill their academic and career potential. Although advances
have been made in developing more effective mental health
support strategies, universities across the UK acknowledge
that more needs to be done to tackle the problem of stigma,
individually tailored support and student drop out.
Competing priorities and budget constraints are very real issues
for all universities, and it is evident that the increase in mental health
issues far outstrips the growth in resources available to tackle the
problem. The challenge, therefore, is to work smarter.
Over the past few years, QMU has advanced its work in this
important area by developing a proactive approach, rather than
a reactive one. In short, it has created efficiencies by working
together across a whole range of departments. By working with HR,
Accommodation, Security, Student Retention, Student Services
and Students’ Union teams, QMU’s ambition is to aim higher in
its support of individuals to allow them to progress successfully
to graduation.
Dr Iliyan Stefanov, QMU’s Head of Student Services, is passionate
about mental health support and has redesigned QMU’s existing
resources to create a more effective support initiative. The University
is already seeing the positive results of this change.
Dr Stefanov explained: “Our model is simple. We developed a
mental health and wellbeing policy, refocused our services so they
were mainly proactive, and created an enhanced safety network
that invests in wellbeing.
“We worked in partnership with the Students’ Union on the
development of the policy, and we focused on the key principles
of promotion, prevention and support. However, we were mindful
of the fact that students are responsible for their own mental
wellbeing but that we all have a duty to help and support them to
achieve good mental health.”
The University invested in additional resources to support
this important work, introducing a new Wellbeing Service and
expanding the existing Residence-Life team that supports students
living in university accommodation. Dr Stefanov said: “Simply
having more services is not enough. In addition, we increased
cooperation between services and ensured the student was placed
firmly at the centre of our support system.”
QMU’s new ‘Stay on Course’ system has transformed the way
support services relate to one another. Dr Stefanov said: “Stay
on Course allows us to identify students in need of support early
by tracking their academic attendance and proactively offering
support. So, for example, our system can flag if a student is
skipping classes. We can follow up with the student, identify
the problem and offer the right kind of support service to get
the student back on track. Effectively, it allows early detection of
problems and provides the right set of services to the individual.
It makes students feel looked after and is far more effective than
relying on students to self-refer and having people on a waiting
list for appointments.”
Simplicity, access to support and response times are key to
success. QMU therefore created a new drop-in system which
allows students to be quickly assessed, irrespective of what the
issue is and when it presents itself.
“Investment in training was crucial,” said Dr Stefanov. “Thanks
to the importance that our Human Resources department has
placed on mental wellbeing, more than 25% of all QMU staff have
been trained in Scottish Mental Health First Aid.”
Heather Edie, QMU’s Development and Alumni Relations, said:
“Thanks to generous support from the Big Lottery Fund’s Young
Start programme, over 100 students have also received mental
health training. The funds are helping us provide a programme of
peer support, which is equipping students with the skills and the
confidence to support each other. Ultimately, this will strengthen
the emotional wellbeing of our whole student population.”
More training for students is planned throughout 2019, as well as
a programme of activities focusing on topics such as mindfulness,
eating disorders and healthy body, healthy mind. The project is
being delivered by the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Group,
a collaboration between the University and QMU’s Students’ Union.
Ellen Pusey, a postgraduate student in Speech and Language
Therapy, completed the training course. She said: “We often focus
on physical health and not on our mental health – sometimes
nothing is done until people are at crisis point. I wanted to have
the skills to be able to help people and to recognise signs if I
thought I saw them.”
Dr Stefanov concluded: “We accept that there is always more to
be done but we are pleased that our proactive approach is already
demonstrating that prevention is always better than cure.” ❒
“
ore than 25% of all QMU staff
M
have been trained in Scottish
Mental Health First Aid.”
8
QMYOU / Mental Health Support