Mental Health in Australian Universities — Understanding Mental Health Services Available to Students in Universities around the Victoria Area and Students’ Perceptions in Seeking Mental Health Care

Author

Anabella Isaro

Sponsor

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Advisors

Stephen M. McCauley,  William R. Michalson

Term

March – May 2017

Abstract

This report examines some of the barriers student face in accessing mental health services at their universities. The goal of this project is to understand the intervention plans, initiatives and services implemented by different bodies on university campuses to support university students’ mental well-being and evaluate the students’ perception of seeking mental health care. From my research I developed recommendation that aimed to bridge the gap between the services being provided to the students and student’s access to those services.

Executive Summary

Background

In Australia the prevalence of mental health challenges among university students is on the rise. Universities across Australia have implemented various mechanisms to support students mental well-being. Subsequently, the Australia government has implement various policies to encourage universities to reinforce an environment that is supportive of the students’ mental well-being. Institutions have also invested in research to provide information that addresses the problem of increased incidences of mental health challenges on university campuses.

Some of the research sheds light on the common mental health challenges students face. The two most common mental health challenges students experience were identified: depression, which is a mental health challenges that is characterized by extreme sadness and despair, and anxiety which is characterized by a feeling of worry. Substantial evidence from the research suggested that if mental health challenges are not addressed one of the reciprocating effects among university student was the tendency of students to be suicidal as their mental health challenges become more severe.

University students are at risk of having mental health challenges on campus. Some of the factors that were identified as contributing to increased incidences of mental health challenges included the financial responsibilities that students have in order to afford their education. Additionally, university workloads such as assignments and finals proved to also be contributing to the psychological distress among university student.

Even though there is the prevalence of mental health challenges among university students, utilization of mental health services provided by their institution is low. Stigma was one of the most highlighted factors that prevented students from seeking mental health services. International students in particular are were more affected by the stigma that prevented them from accessing mental health services even though studies have shown that due to an unfamiliar environment international students reside in they are more at risk compared to other students to experience mental health challenges.

Methodology

My project goal was to understand students’ access to and perception of mental health services provided by their universities in Melbourne. To accomplish this my mission was to develop key objectives that were completed.

  1. Understand the intervention plans, initiatives, and services implemented by various bodies on university campuses to help improve and maintain students mental well-being.
  2. Evaluate university students’ perceptions towards seeking mental health care and assess their awareness of the existing mental health services offered by their institutions.

My work was completed over a six-week period, which consisted of two phases: (1) With the goal of conducting interviews with university counselors; I contacted several counseling services to schedule interviews where I was able to schedule 3 in-person interviews with university counselors at three different universities. I visited their university campuses and conducted a 20 – 30 minute interviews, after which I analyzed and reported on the data collected. (2) Additionally with the main goal of conducting student survey, I researched on social media various pages or organizations where university students in Melbourne are members. I then contacted the organizations and individual students to gage their interest in the study and help distribute and/or participate in the study. I then collected and analyzed data from a sample size of 53 university students who participated in the survey.

Findings

Interviews with university counsellors help answer our two main research questions: what resource that are available to students to support students’ mental well-being and what challenged are faced by these services. From my interviews I found that all the three universities have a common goal to support students maintaining and improving their mental well-being and they have taken several steps to ensure that students have all the resources necessary to maintain their mental well-being. Some of those services included centralized counselling services, ancillary mental health programs and skilled based training. However, these counselling centers face some challenges where delivering their services. The main challenge that these centers face is the low utilization and attendance of the services and programs they provide.

From the survey university students, my main research questions were what are the common perceptions students have towards seeking mental health care and what is their awareness of the services available to them. Some of the most important finding that were highlighted in the survey was that many students think their mental health is important, however many were reluctant to seek out mental health care even though they thought that their mental well-being was at risk and other were not aware of how they care seek out mental health care from there universities. From the data collected it showed that there are some factors or barriers that prevent students from seeking help. Many students’ thought that their universities do not advertise their services and hence students are not aware of them, others thought that they would be judged by their peers and family for seeking out mental health care and many more thought that the services and resources were not enough or available when needed.

Conclusion

While most universities in Australia offer mental health services to their students, access to the services is limited. Interviewing university counselors highlighted the main challenge of low utilization of resources provided by the universities. Additionally, surveying students highlighted some of the factors that contribute to the low utilization of those resource by the students. From my research I concluded that the low utilization of the resources lies in the fact that students do not not know about the resources available to them. It is important for universities to provide information on how to access mental health services and find better effective mechanism of advertising their resources. University students need to seek out all the necessary information of how to seek help and take the main responsibility of utilizing the resources available to them.

Final Report

Students’ Mental Wellbeing in Universities Located in Melbourne