St Mary’s University was successfully awarded a significant grant of £182k from the Office for Students as part of their support for mental health of university students. The two-year project was in collaboration with King’s College London, University of West London and Maudsley Learning (South London and Maudsley NHS Trust).
Students who are first in their families to attend university, most of whom are from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and students who are otherwise cut off from family support, are at increased risk of poor mental health, social isolation, and non-continuation as they make their way through critical transition points in their university careers. Transition points include entering and leaving university, moving between academic years, and semester breaks, when often reality bites around academic and financial pressures, relationships, home and university contrasts, homesickness, and other aspects of student life.
The project aimed to deliver and evaluate a package of psycho-education interventions co-designed and co-produced by students. Interventions aimed to promote the development of skills and behaviours that support mental health among our target group and improve how these students manage the pressures associated with transition points. The interventions included face-to-face workshops and an online resource pack to allow students to flexibly engage with the different aspects based on their needs and while balancing other responsibilities.
For more details of this project, please contact: annalise.gordon@stmarys.ac.uk