A growing number of students in UK higher education are facing mental health and wellbeing challenges. But universities often take a deficit-based approach, focusing on treating individual symptoms rather than addressing the broader systemic or environmental factors behind student distress.
In part one, SUMS Associate Consultant Dr Alison Oldam and Managing Consultant Helen Baird explored UK universities' approaches to student mental health. In this part, they explore how universities can move beyond traditional deficit models and adopt a whole-institution approach to student mental health.
What might change that focusses on the system and organisation rather than the individual look like?
Wellbeing as central to the academic experience:
Some universities are adopting more holistic approaches, whereby mental health and wellbeing are no longer seen as separate from academic support. Integrating wellbeing into the curriculum is key to prevention. This approach reaches the whole university population, including students who may be struggling with mental health challenges but who do not self-identify as requiring support. It can also encourage students to think about self-care and emotional intelligence as a central tenet to academic success.
This approach can be introduced through a module, as we’ve seen within the Business School at Trinity College Dublin. Recognising that in the world of business graduates increasingly need awareness of factors impacting on their own and their colleagues’ wellbeing, this module is a central part of the curriculum.
There are also interesting examples of preventative approaches relating to compassionate curriculum and pedagogy or a kinder curriculum. As Killingback (2024) said “while universities offer excellent wellbeing services, they are most often separate from pedagogic practice. The argument for including mental wellbeing in the curriculum and adopting a compassionate pedagogy – actively addressing distress and disadvantage in the learning environment – is gaining momentum.”
Another interesting example is the University of Leeds’ Compassionate Curriculum Network, designed to “promote a holistic approach to embedding wellbeing into the curriculum. Members will discuss theory and practice of embedding wellbeing throughout the entire university education experience.” Similarly, theUniversity of Bristol has a programme of work looking at the kinder curriculum with objectives including reducing assessment, reducing exams, simplifying the curriculum, improving student wellbeing and enabling skills development rather than knowledge acquisition.
We also know in student services that more students look to access services at critical points in the academic calendar, especially around assessment and exam periods. Anything that can be done strategically to reduce burden for students (and staff) at certain times of the year is a preventative institutional approach that will support all students.
Cultural Competence and Inclusivity:
We know that different groups of students report mental health difficulties at different rates, but the predominant model in the sector remains a ‘one size fits all’. Some student support systems are evolving to address differences in student populations. These institutions are mining their data to understand differences in how different student groups access support services and university processes, such as mitigating circumstances and appeals, and then introducing more flexibility in service provision to tailor mental health support to these groups’ specific needs.
AI and Data-Driven Support Systems – Mental health analytics
Anecdotally we hear from our university members and clients that it can be those students who are not known by specialist student support services who staff are most concerned about.
In 2021 the OfS funded a highly successful project at Northumbria University to explore the use of data analytics in mental health and wellbeing and build a model to predict student wellbeing. Students were asked to fill in the World Health Organization’s Five Wellbeing Index (which measures wellbeing in the previous two weeks) at admission and then again at various key points of the academic year. Using this data, Northumbria built a model that “…predicts the future wellbeing of students based on data already held about them. This includes identifying those students who are at risk of experiencing low wellbeing. The University used these insights to send tailored nudges to students”. (JISC report, 2024).
Crucially, this approach should not replace expert risk assessment, decision making and intervention from mental health and wellbeing professionals. However, it does help identify and support students who are reporting lower levels of wellbeing so student services teams can target support and intervention to support prevention and early intervention.
Students as collaborators and ideally co-creators
The idea of students as co-creators rather than passive recipients is gaining traction across multiple areas of university life. Paying students to take part in these activities provides much needed financial support as well as valuable work experience. This may involve, for example, students working directly with staff to design curricula, choose teaching methods, and create learning environments that support diverse learning styles, as well as co-creation of services. Projects funded by the OfS’s Mental Health Funding Competition in 2020 looking at innovation and intersectional approaches to target mental health support for students included a specific focus on co-creation with students. See Wavehill’s 2022 evaluation report for the OfS here.
It’s time to flip the narrative
We often talk about ‘hard to reach’ students but perhaps we should flip this and talk instead about hard to engage with services, focussing on the system rather than the individual. The more diverse and representative groups of students are used in the co–creation of services and the support on offer, the more likely it is that those services will be successful in meeting the needs of all students, making services easier to reach.
How can SUMS help?
These are just some examples of changes in the approach to support for students with mental health difficulties and there are many more out there. What is clear is that in the context of increased numbers, complexity and risk as well as a desire to support compliance and provide excellent support and experiences for students, many universities are thinking about and reviewing their services to ensure they are as effective and as efficient as possible.
Wherever you are currently and wherever it is you want to get to, SUMS can help.
Over the past five years, our expert consultants have supported universities of all different types and stages in reviewing and enhancing their specialist support services for students.
Explore more information about how you can better support your students here.
