scholarly journals Strengthening University Student Wellbeing: Language and Perceptions of Chinese International Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (15) ◽  
pp. 5538
Author(s):  
Lanxi Huang ◽  
Margaret L. Kern ◽  
Lindsay G. Oades
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
International Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
University Student ◽  
Chinese International Students ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Support Students

Students at the tertiary education level in Australia are at increased risk of experiencing high levels of psychological distress, with international students at particularly high risk for poor adjustment. As mental health and wellbeing strongly correlate with students’ academic performance and general overseas experience, a growing number of studies focus on what universities can do to effectively support students’ wellbeing. However, assumptions are made about what wellbeing is, strategies primarily focus on treating mental ill-health, and treatment approaches fail to account for cultural differences. This study aimed to explore how Chinese international students understand wellbeing, the language used about and for wellbeing, and activities that students believe strengthen their own and others’ wellbeing. Eighty-four Chinese international students completed the online survey, and a subset of 30 students participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic, phenomenographic, and language analyses. Physical health and mental health appeared as the key components that participants believed defined wellbeing, and intrapersonal activities were perceived as the primary approach used to strengthen wellbeing. Findings help broaden the understanding of wellbeing concept from the population of tertiary students, identify students’ perspectives of activities that strengthen their wellbeing, offer a snapshot of the language used by Chinese students around wellbeing, and provide new data of population health through a wellbeing lens.

scholarly journals Exploring the challenges and opportunities for improving the health and wellbeing of international students: Perspectives of professional staff at an Australian University.

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-92
Author(s):  
Danielle C. Newton ◽  
◽  
drian J. Tomyn ◽  
Anthony D. LaMontagne ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
International Students ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
International Student ◽  
Professional Staff ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

There are growing concerns about the mental health of university students, with particular concerns for international students studying in countries with different language and culture from the country of origin. We sought to explore the challenges and opportunities for supporting and improving the health and wellbeing of international students through interviews with health and other support services staff at an Australian University. Semi-structured interviews with a range of health and support services staff were conducted in person or by telephone in late 2018. Staff were asked about their perceptions of 1) health and wellbeing issues for international students, 2) barriers to international students accessing campus-based services for health and wellbeing concerns, and 3) strategies to improve international students’ health and wellbeing. Transcribed interviews were analysed thematically. Mental health/illness was identified as the most important health and wellbeing concern for international students. Barriers to help-seeking included fear of repercussions for coming forward, lack of problem and symptom recognition, poor understanding of health information, cultural stigma associated with counselling and language barriers. A tendency among international students to delay help-seeking until problems reached crisis-point was also identified as a concern. Suggested strategies to improve wellbeing included pre-departure education/orientation to life in Australia, the integration of health and wellbeing education with other university programs, education about confidentiality, better supporting students in how to access services, and skill building to promote social connection. Addressing the identified issues and opportunities would support international student health and wellbeing and may assist in attracting international students back to Australia post-COVID.

scholarly journals Supporting adults with mental health problems through further education

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (8) ◽  
pp. 863-874
Author(s):  
Denise Buchanan ◽  
Ian Warwick
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Barriers To Learning ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Education College

Aim: To identify how a college of further (tertiary) education might promote the wellbeing of adults with mental health problems. Study design: Qualitative study of the college-related experiences of people with mental health problems. Setting: A further education college in inner-city London, UK. Methods: Fifteen students, all of whom had been diagnosed with mental health problems, were selected from a range of courses, including those attending a special cookery class, those on mainstream courses, and former-students who had studied on one of a number of courses and who might or might not have completed their studies. Data were collected through two individual semi-structured interviews. Results: Findings focus on barriers to learning outside and inside college and how these were overcome, as well as participants’ perceived links between learning and their mental health and wellbeing. Conclusion: Discussion highlights the necessity of ‘bridging’ between health and education services in order to enable adults with mental health problems to benefit from lifelong learning opportunities in a potentially transformative way.

scholarly journals Social Value Systems and the Mental Health of International Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (S2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Humphrey ◽  
Helen Forbes-Mewett
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
International Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Australian Economy ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Australian Universities

Australian universities are understood to have the highest number of international students per capita worldwide. The sector contributes over $40 billion to the national economy and sustains many thousands of jobs. Despite their importance to the Australian economy and society, international students are often overlooked in mainstream health promotion and support services. Of the many difficulties and hardships international students experience, mental health presents a significant problem. Evidence indicates that the mental health of international students was declining before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in Australia. The impact of the pandemic appears to have exacerbated this issue. Our findings from an online survey (n=135) and semi-structured interviews (n=20) reinforce the importance of international students maintaining close social connections for optimizing their mental health. They also bring clarity to the challenges students from highly socially engaged (collectivistic) cultures face, when studying in individualistic environments like Australia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Remote learning and students’ mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic: A mixed-method enquiry

Prospects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Lischer ◽  
Netkey Safi ◽  
Cheryl Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Status ◽  
University Students ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Distance Teaching ◽  
Learning Conditions ◽  
Support Students

AbstractThe disruption caused by Covid-19 in the educational sector may last longer than originally predicted. To better understand the current situation, this article analyses the mental health status of university students during the pandemic and investigates the learning conditions needed to support students. The sample included 557 undergraduate students who took part in an online survey. Overall, the students reported coping well during lockdown but indicated that lecturers were challenged by distance teaching, which created some stress for the students.

scholarly journals Can Chatbots Help Support a Person’s Mental Health? Perceptions and Views from Mental Healthcare Professionals and Experts

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Colm Sweeney ◽  
Courtney Potts ◽  
Edel Ennis ◽  
Raymond Bond ◽  
Maurice D. Mulvenna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
User Interfaces ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Health Perceptions ◽  
Human Emotion ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Perceived Importance

The objective of this study was to understand the attitudes of professionals who work in mental health regarding the use of conversational user interfaces, or chatbots, to support people’s mental health and wellbeing. This study involves an online survey to measure the awareness and attitudes of mental healthcare professionals and experts. The findings from this survey show that more than half of the participants in the survey agreed that there are benefits associated with mental healthcare chatbots (65%, p < 0.01). The perceived importance of chatbots was also relatively high (74%, p < 0.01), with more than three-quarters (79%, p < 0.01) of respondents agreeing that mental healthcare chatbots could help their clients better manage their own health, yet chatbots are overwhelmingly perceived as not adequately understanding or displaying human emotion (86%, p < 0.01). Even though the level of personal experience with chatbots among professionals and experts in mental health has been quite low, this study shows that where they have been used, the experience has been mostly satisfactory. This study has found that as years of experience increased, there was a corresponding increase in the belief that healthcare chatbots could help clients better manage their own mental health.

scholarly journals Stress-related emotional and behavioural impact following the first COVID-19 outbreak peak

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asaf Benjamin ◽  
Yael Kuperman ◽  
Noa Eren ◽  
Ron Rotkopf ◽  
Maya Amitai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Distress Symptoms ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Physiological Symptoms ◽  
Individual Ability ◽  
And Coping

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic poses multiple psychologically stressful challenges and is associated with an increased risk for mental illness. Previous studies have focused on the psychopathological symptoms associated with the outbreak peak. Here, we examined the behavioural and mental-health impact of the pandemic in Israel using an online survey, during the six weeks encompassing the end of the first outbreak and the beginning of the second. We used clinically validated instruments to assess anxiety- and depression-related emotional distress, symptoms, and coping strategies, as well as questions designed to specifically assess COVID-19-related concerns. Higher emotional burden was associated with being female, younger, unemployed, living in high socioeconomic status localities, having prior medical conditions, encountering more people, and experiencing physiological symptoms. Our findings highlight the environmental context and its importance in understanding individual ability to cope with the long-term stressful challenges of the pandemic.

scholarly journals Evaluating Mental Health and Wellbeing of Postgraduate Researchers: Prevalence and Contributing Factors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Milicev ◽  
Stephany Biello ◽  
Maria Gardani
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Uk

AbstractIntroduction: Recent research has revealed high rates of mental health issues in postgraduate researchers (PGRs). Mental ill-health is a barrier to life satisfaction and academic success. More knowledge is necessary to understand the extent and origins of mental health problems of PGRs in the UK. Aims: To assess the prevalence of anxiety, depression, sleep problems, subjective mental wellbeing, and suicide behaviours of PGRs in the UK, as well as to explore the factors that underpin these outcomes.Methods: An online survey (N=479) was used to measure the mental health outcomes, and assess the influence of demographic, trait and academic variables, and social support. Results: In this sample the prevalence of mental ill-health was high, while wellbeing was lower than in the general population. Female, non-binary and non-heterosexual PGRs had poorer mental health than their male and/or heterosexual counterparts. Researchers in the field of Arts had higher levels of wellbeing, while those in the 5th year of study or above were at a higher risk of suicidal behaviours. Resilience, adaptive perfectionism, social support and positive evaluations of progress and preparation, departmental climate, and supervisory relationship were associated with positive outcomes, while maladaptive perfectionism and workaholism were linked to the negative ones. Resilience and workaholism were the only variables that played a role in all mental health outcomes.Conclusions: The current paper contributes new knowledge about the PGR wellbeing, the prevalence of mental health symptoms, and some of the factors that shape them. Our findings imply that institutional efforts to improve PGR mental health and wellbeing should include a variety of strategies to promote equality, diversity, resilience, integration and work-life balance of PGRs.

Understanding the Mental Health Needs of a Community-Sample of UK Women Veterans

2021 ◽  
pp. 105413732110704
Author(s):  
Laura Josephine Hendrikx ◽  
Charlotte Williamson ◽  
Julia Baumann ◽  
Dominic Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Women Veterans ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Health Needs ◽  
Mental Health Needs ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Mental Health Difficulties

Women are often underrepresented or entirely missing from veteran research, and there remains limited understanding of their mental health needs. The present study investigated the mental health needs of a community sample of UK women veterans. A total of 750/1680 (44.6%) participants completed an online survey. Data was collected on sociodemographic and military factors, mental health and wellbeing, and childhood adversity. Findings revealed a high prevalence and comorbidity of mental health difficulties, including common mental health difficulties (28.6%) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (10.8%). Women veterans who were older, not working, held a lower rank during service, perceived less social support and experienced greater loneliness were more likely to report such difficulties. Results further revealed high childhood and military adversity, and wellbeing difficulties. Such findings provide insight into the needs of women veterans and have implications for providing appropriate support. Considerations of the generalizability of findings are discussed.

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