At the end of this e-module, I will be able to:
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Understand how engaging in higher education can build a supportive environment through support services for students.
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Identify the key aspects that the university’s leadership must implement and what are some potential support services.
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Apply effective coping strategies.
Time for completion
Who is this course for?
“It’s the learning environment that determines the success and motivation of the student to achieve.
Module 5: Building a Supportive Learning Environment
To integrate mental health support services in HEIs:
- Identify available third-party resources and supports.
- Increase awareness among students about accessing these resources.
- Develop an official HEI policy and implementation strategy for mental health support services.
HEIs can improve the future of their mental health support services by:
- Establish a student health committee and include a mental health professional.
- Conduct regular workshops for educators.
- Undertake a comprehensive Needs Analysis to assess current mental health services, identify areas for improvement, and formulate an official policy to guide future service enhancements (Van Vulpen, 2024)
Leadership in Higher Education Institutions is tasked with creating an environment where faculty members acknowledge the significance of several critical elements:
- Acknowledging, respecting, and supporting the needs of young individuals.
- Responding to the increasing need for mental health and substance use services.
- Taking proactive steps to engage with student mental health.
- Cultivating a campus culture that reduces stress.
- Identifying and addressing harmful institutional systems. (Chen, Romero and Karver, 2016)
Mentoring for Positive Mental Health – managing anxiety in Higher Education Institutions
Identify and introduce your chosen model or approach
Strategies: Educators can integrate DEI components into their courses through:
- Self-reflection on personal biases and privileges.
- Incorporation of diverse perspectives into course materials.
- Cultivation of an inclusive classroom culture that values all voices.
- Timely addressing of bias incidents within the learning environment.
- Use of inclusive language and imagery in teaching materials.
- Providing feedback mechanisms to continuously enhance inclusivity within the course (The HE4u2 consortium, 2017)
Strategies:
- Conduct annual needs evaluations to understand mental health needs within the university community.
- Enable direct interactions between health professionals and students to detect and respond to specific mental health needs early.
- Integrate mental health professionals from community settings into universities to enhance available resources.
- Encourage teaching staff to participate in local partnership meetings to improve collaborative efforts.
- Facilitate contributions from external organisations, such as mental health services for targeted training, awareness activities, and direct referral networks to specialised care. (Fazel et al., 2023; Warwick et al., 2008)
Strategy:
- Peer support significantly contributes to students’ well-being and reduces anxiety issues, becoming increasingly essential within Higher Education (HE).
- Students often find comfort in shared experiences, particularly amid pandemic-induced challenges and disparities, fostering a sense of common humanity and solidarity. (Lipson et al., 2022)
Benefits of this Mentoring Model for the chosen Topic
- Fostering diversity and inclusion.
- Improving HEI strategies.
- Supporting and addressing students’ anxiety.
- Enhancing collaboration among organisation for students’ well-being.
Practical Advice for using this model (Tips and Hints)
- Continuous training.
- Encourage all staff and student participation.
- Ongoing evaluation of tools and results.
- Interacting with professionals to improve students’ well-being.
Real-life Scenario
Kate is a university student; she struggles with severe anxiety. She is hesitant to seek help due to the stigma associated with mental health issues and fears that her professors and peers might judge her. Additionally, Kate finds the process of accessing the university’s mental health services complicated and intimidating.
- What can Kate do?
- Where can Kate access supports?
- What can the professors do?
What can Kate do?
Seek peer support: join a student support group. This can provide a safe environment to share experiences and learn coping strategies from peers who may have similar challenges.
Utilise online resources/ curricula: online mental health resources, including self-help guides, workshops, and anonymous counselling services. These can be a less intimidating starting point.
Academic accommodations: Speak to an academic advisor about potential accommodations, such as extended deadlines or alternative exam arrangements
University counsellor: Most of the universities offer free counselling to their students and provide online resources to help support students’ mental health wellbeing.
Where can Kate access supports?
Ask for confidential help: Reach out to mental health professionals, for example, in Ireland, Kate could contact:
NiteLine is a listening, support and information service run by and for the students. Freephone: 1800 793 793
Samaritans provides confidential non-judgemental support, 24 hours a day for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide. Call for free on 116 123.
Pieta House provides free therapy to those engaging in self-harm, with suicidal thoughts, or bereaved by suicide. Call Freephone on 1800 247 247
What can the professors do?
Foster an inclusive environment: Create a classroom atmosphere that normalises discussions about mental health, reducing stigma and making students feel safe to seek help.
Promote Resources: Inform students about available mental health resources, both on-campus and online, and encourage their use.
Be approachable: Encourage students to discuss their concerns privately. Show empathy and understanding, which can make students feel more comfortable seeking support.
Make referrals: Direct students to professional mental health services if needed. Professors can help demystify the process by explaining how to access these services and what to expect.
Call to Action
Independent Activity – Identify and evaluate existing support resources
The students can start writing down and evaluate the following information:
- Does the curricula emphasise the significance of diversity, equity and inclusion?
- What support services exist in the university? Are the services easy to navigate, and do students feel comfortable when engaging with these services ?
- Are students able to freely discuss mental health issues with peers? Is this happening in your university community?
This research and evaluation can help students to identify if there are relevant support services in the university and how he/she can approach them.
Therefore, as a first step, we suggest that you research on how your HEI cares for employees in the field of mental health. Are there support groups organised? Do you have access to professional psychological support? Is there training on, for example, stress management, time management or assertive communication?
If this kind of service is unavailable at your university, ask your colleagues if they will implement it. This could be the first step towards implementing solutions that contribute to improving your mental health.
Group Activity: Peer support session
A group session can be organised and facilitated by a mental health professional. In this session students can discuss:
- Coping strategies for dealing with anxiety.
- What are the main factors that lead to feelings of anxiety?
- What steps can students follow to deal with anxiety issues?
This session allows students to share experiences, discuss coping strategies, and support each other. The collaborative environment promotes social connectedness and reduces feelings of isolation.
Additional and Further Information
Title: Guide to Conducting a Training Needs Analysis
Link: https://www.aihr.com/blog/training-needs-analysis/
Why its recommended: To identify the gap between the actual and the desired knowledge, skills, and abilities of institution staff
Title: Incorporating Diversity
Link: https://teaching.cornell.edu/resource/incorporating-diversity
Why its recommended: Some techniques that instructors have used to incorporate diversity into their courses.
Title: Mental Health Advice Service | Student Support
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjN6UzGiCU
Why its recommended: An example from Cambridge University explaining the mental support sevices.
References
Van Vulpen, E. (2024) A Guide to conducting a Training Needs Analysis [Free template]. https://www.aihr.com/blog/training-needs-analysis/
Chen, J.I., Romero, G.D. and Karver, M.S. (2016) ‘The relationship of perceived campus culture to mental health help-seeking intentions.,’ Journal of Counseling Psychology, 63(6), pp. 677–684. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000095.
The HE4u2 consortium (2017). Creating intercultural learning environments – Guidelines for staff within Higher Education Institutions. Barcelona: eucen Publishing.
Fazel, M., Soneson, E., Sellars, E., Butler, G., & Stein, A. (2023). Partnerships at the interface of education and mental health services: the utilisation and acceptability of the provision of specialist liaison and teacher skills training. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4066. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054066
Warwick, I. et al. (2008) ‘Supporting mental health and emotional well‐being among younger students in further education,’ Journal of Further and Higher Education, 32(1), pp. 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098770701560331.
Lipson, S. K., Zhou, S., Abelson, S., Heinze, J. E., Jirsa, M., Morigney, J., Patterson, A., Singh, M., & Eisenberg, D. (2022). Trends in college student mental health and help-seeking by race/ethnicity: Findings from the national healthy minds study, 2013–2021. Journal of Affective Disorders, 306, 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.03.038
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. Project Number – 2022-1-PL01-KA220-HED-00008.
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