14 Dec Toolkit Summary
This toolkit includes a review of the challenges that HE students face and the practices that have been put in place to enhance mental health and wellbeing on campuses across Europe.
HE students are facing mental health, learning, and financial challenges that negatively affect their wellbeing. Students reportdifficulties with anxiety, depression, and academic functioning to such an extent that this has been dubbed “a crisis in mental health” on university campuses. Exacerbating these difficulties are the many barriers students face in accessing the care they need. Counselling services are overburdened with referrals due to understaffing. Other barriers to care include stigma and a lack of knowledge about mental health and available services.
In this toolkit, we have identified innovative interventions that can be implemented by HE administrators, counselling centres, and staff. It seems that the holistic ‘campus community’ approaches fit students’ needs because they are comprehensive, flexible, and effective.
Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted universities worldwide, forcing a shift to remote learning and raising questions about the future of higher education and campus life as we have known it. Providing mental health services on campuses that are upended is more challenging than ever. HEIs are delving into the digital mental health landscape.