Mental Health and Human Resilience

Biography

Biography: Diane Phimister, Annette Dix

Abstract

The number of first-year students arriving at university who report a mental health condition is now five times what it was 10 years ago. There’s also been a trebling in the number of students dropping out of university with mental health problems (Bewick and Stallman 2018). In addition, there are growing concerns about the mental health and well-being of academic staff with some studies quoting as high as 55% of academics experiencing symptoms including depression, sleeping problems and cognitive impairment (Grove 2018). Worryingly, the number of suicide deaths among UK students have also risen by 56% from 2007 to 2016.  In the 12 month period ending July 2017, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recorded 95 student suicides, with students now being at increased risk of suicide compared to young adults in the general population.  University staff are best placed to support students experiencing mental health issues and therefore need to be adequately equipped to respond to them effectively (McAllister et al. 2014).

At Coventry University we recognise the challenges that both staff and students are experiencing in managing well-being and mental health and the impact this has had on the individual. Our aspiration therefore is to work together to develop a culture in which we focus upon peoples strengths, offer effective and accessible support and facilitate the integration and embedding of staff and student mental wellbeing across the institution. In order to take a sustained and considered approach to this issue we have developed a mental health strategy which underpins all our work in this area. The development of the strategy  had some significant highlights and also some equally significant low lights. This paper will share learning from that activity and provide a platform for other institutions to begin to build their own strategy.