Mental Health, Substance Use, and Wellbeing in Higher Education Supporting the Whole Student (2021) / Chapter Skim
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3 Environments to Support Wellbeing for All Students
3 Environments to Support Wellbeing for All Students
Pages 63-94
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From page 63... ...
What higher education can do, with its focus on academic development and through its actions and policies, is inform lifelong behaviors, both healthy and risky, that can develop during this time. While colleges and universities do not need to have health services that address all possible student needs, they do have an obligation to make students aware of the resources available to them, including academic support, health-related services, and wellbeing programs.
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From page 64... ...
It also profiles specific populations of students and provides insights into how higher education can support students across all of their identities. These descriptions also include information on populations of students more likely to have been exposed to trauma and harm perpetuated against them.
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From page 65... ...
, and cannot replace the evaluation of a licensed professional, early screenings can provide students with an understanding of what warning signs for distress look like in themselves as well as others. Screening sessions can also provide students with information about health and wellbeing services on campus and connect them to national resources (SAMHSA, 2018)
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From page 66... ...
to host workshops and provide resources on nonacademic skills that can support student mental health. In the event that a campus experiences a student death by suicide, there may be additional support BOX 3-1 Efforts to Address Stigma Against Mental Illness The stigma associated with mental health conditions can serve as a significant barrier to students with mental health disabilities getting the help they are entitled to under the law.
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From page 67... ...
Increasing the number of mental health professionals who are BIPOC can also help reduce the stigma associated with mental health treatment among BIPOC students. SAMHSA's Historically Black Colleges and Universities Center for Excel lence (HBCU-CFE)
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From page 68... ...
For example, numerous online programs to support mental health have become popular in the higher education setting, including several that provide digital behavioral health care, specifically online programs to support treatment for depression, anxiety, stress, and resilience for college students. While colleges and universities may seek virtual health and wellbeing tools (separate from telehealth and distance therapy services)
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From page 69... ...
In fact, virtual environments can provide a place of connection for all students to share stories and form a support network. For example, PhD Balance3 is an online community developed by graduate students to share narratives about mental and emotional health struggles and share resources.
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While this chapter primarily focuses on population-level programs and wellbeing services, the sections on specific populations below do include some information on ways these groups may exhibit certain characteristics related to mental health and wellbeing, reported rates of mental health issues, differences in access or rates of mental health utilization, and other clinical services covered in greater detail in Chapter 4. Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color As noted in Chapter 2, the proportion of students who are Black, African American, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islanders, Native American/Alaska Native, and multiple-race non-Hispanic is projected to increase in the coming years.
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From page 71... ...
. In addition to providing culturally competent programs and services to students, colleges and universities may consider how they communicate, raise awareness, and reduce stigma around mental health specifically for students who are BIPOC.
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From page 72... ...
72 MENTAL HEALTH, SUBSTANCE USE, AND WELLBEING IN HIGHER EDUCATION Having health professionals on campus who recognize, support, and treat students from all backgrounds can help lower some of the barriers for students who are BIPOC. This may include staff at the general or primary health clinic who can recognize signs of mental health issues as well as processes that allow students to move between physical and mental health services.
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From page 73... ...
In the context of higher education, a mental health disability is defined as "a persistent psychological or psychiatric disorder, emotional or mental illness that adversely affects educational performance." To comply with ADA, campuses must provide accommodations commensurate with the range of disabilities that students experience. Disabilities may be long-term and chronic, but ADA also covers short-term disability for surgery, trauma, or other medical conditions (including pregnancy)
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From page 74... ...
identify and support students with mental health disabilities and 2) responsibly provide disability-related modifications and accommodations as required under federal disability laws." A survey of 76 practitioner and 148 students, carried out by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
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Overall, the research on substance use in the population of students with disabilities remains limited, and additional research7 would help provide insight into rates of prevalence and appropriate mechanisms to support students with disabilities to completion of their degree program. First-Generation Students As enrollment in higher education has continued to rise, there has been growing attention to students who are the first in their family to attend college or whose parent or guardian did not attain a bachelor's degree.
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From page 76... ...
peer mentoring program, for example, is designed for incoming first-generation students and was developed "to help students feel more closely connected to the campus environment and to help them bridge gaps in academic success and psychological well-being." The program, which pairs upperclassmen with incoming students based on majors and general demographic information, was found to be successful in improving academic performance and supporting psychological wellbeing. The 60 first-year students who fully engaged with the mentoring programs earned grade point averages that averaged 0.61 higher than those who did not.
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From page 77... ...
There are important considerations for colleges and universities to attend to while providing support for international students. The concepts of wellbeing and mental health, for example, may differ considerably depending on the students' country of origin, and international students utilize counseling services at lower rates and are less likely to return after an intake appointment (Alexander and Iarovici, 2018)
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From page 78... ...
Government regulations related to immigration, travel restrictions, and visas can create urgent situations for international and undocumented students. In the event of potential or pending policy changes, colleges and universities can rely on student services, immigration support staff, and centers for international students to provide updates and resources to students.
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From page 79... ...
While research specific to the wellbeing of student-athletes remains limited, the University of Michigan's Athletes Connected research aims to increase awareness of mental health issues, reduce the stigma of help-seeking, and promote positive coping skills among student-athletes overall and during the COVID-19 pandemic (Kern et al., 2016) .8 For example, in one pilot study, an educational intervention for varsity athletes that featured presentations that provided an "overview of mental health, two videos highlighting former studentathletes' struggles with mental illnesses, and a discussion at the end with the 8 Additional information is available at https://athletesconnected.umich.edu (accessed September 29, 2020)
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From page 80... ...
Undergraduate students typically have general education requirements mandating a broad exploration of campus, extracurricular activities, and residential life. As a result, undergraduates often traverse a larger area on campus than master's and doctoral students, who may be enrolled in a specific program located in a handful of buildings, spend more time off campus, and may be located in another location for field research.
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From page 81... ...
. Unlike undergraduate students, graduate students often do not participate in introduction to campus programs and do not learn about various supports available to them, and they often have fewer opportunities to join extracurricular activities and build support networks.
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From page 82... ...
The report notes the benefits of a positive mentoring relationship for undergraduate and graduate students and discusses some of the negative consequences of a poor relationship. Undergraduate students who participate in mentored research experiences are more likely to stay in STEMM, and students who perceive their mentors as
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From page 83... ...
Medical students and other health professionals have a distinct educational trajectory and encounter significant stressors throughout their training. An international meta-analysis found that the prevalence of self-reported depression in medical students to be 27.2 percent, but only 15.7 percent of students with positive screens for depression went on to seek mental health treatment (Iarovici
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From page 84... ...
As mentioned previously, the drive for perfectionism can push students to internalize stress and feel that revealing mental health challenges would make them less qualified for medical practice. Providing wellbeing programs that help individuals retain healthy life habits, workshops that focus on reducing stigma around seeking mental health services, and policies that protect students from overwork can provide students with multiple levels to seek assistance.
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. Given that the medical training environment has a history of hierarchy and dominance from leadership, schools and departments that review and address wellbeing can help shift the climate for medical students and trainees as well.
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. Post-traditional students may have schedules that limit their ability to attend on-site wellbeing programs or to make appointments with counseling services.
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From page 87... ...
While these issues may be concentrated at community colleges, they are not limited to them. Colleges and universities that support students' basic needs can mitigate some life stressors, and enhance wellbeing for those students, and these services have been shown to correlate to higher academic outcomes such as retention and completion.
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From page 88... ...
In the 2019 ACHA-NCHA fall survey, 17.9 percent of undergraduate and graduate students described their sexual orientation in categories other than straight/heterosexual.11 For gender identity, 1.2 percent of students identified outside of the binary woman/female and man/ male categories, and 1.8 percent responded as transgendered. As with other populations, students in this category are not monolithic and their identities may shift during their time on campus.
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From page 89... ...
Peer support groups that focus on SGM issues can help students who are in the process of exploring their identity, experiencing challenges in close relationships, or validating their identity. Other efforts through residential life and student services that recognize SGM students, provide guidance and training for friends and allies, and offer informal ways to seek help for students in distress or facing harassment based on their SGM identity can help reduce bias and make students feel more welcome.
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From page 90... ...
, which includes experiences of individuals from birth to 18 years old of abuse and neglect of all kinds as well as parental mental illness, substance use, divorce, incarceration, and domestic violence, 13 The option to share pronouns gives students the opportunity to opt-out if they do not feel comfort able sharing. Mandatory sharing can cause students who are exploring gender pronoun use distress.
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From page 91... ...
. Existing research regarding the link between developmental trauma and academic resilience, persistence, and completion in college students indicates that the dynamics between trauma and academic outcomes are complex, not well understood, and in need of further research (Anders, Frasier, and Shallcross, 2012; Arnekrans et al., 2018; Baker et al., 2016; Duncan, 2000; Hardner, Wolf, and Rinfrette, 2018; Hinojosa et al., 2019; Metzler et al., 2017; Read et al., 2012)
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From page 92... ...
The presence of sexual harassment can cause trauma, create an environment that does not support wellbeing, and make individuals feel unwelcomed and more likely to leave that environment. As colleges and universities think about ways to ensure safety and wellbeing, the prevention of sexual harassment and the creation of an accountable, transparent system for addressing harassment cases can aid in those efforts.
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From page 93... ...
. As SSM/Vs have a number of identities and may seek support through a number of campus services, online directories and resources that inform students, as well as faculty and staff who may be asked for guidance, of which services are available and where can help students navigate the full range of available support.
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From page 94... ...
As individuals and their physicians assess cognitive capacity after a head injury, guidance about accommodations for cognitive impairment and learning disabilities can give students the additional support needed to complete coursework as well as additional mental health treatment and counseling to help with recovery. Offices that provide specific support to veterans and athletes may create resources specifically for students recovering from head injuries and those continuing to manage cognitive symptoms.
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