Enhancing Student Mental Health through Social Prescribing
High levels of mental distress, loneliness and isolation are reported amongst university students in the UK. Whilst wellbeing services play a key role in supporting student mental health, high demand often outstrips resourcing, and students can experience long waiting times during which their mental wellbeing can deteriorate further. The psychological and individualised focus of such services is also not always the most appropriate response for students, particularly those experiencing loneliness and isolation.
Louise Lawrence (Theology and Religion); Felicity Thomas (Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health); Jemima Dooley (Psychology); Polly Card (Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health) and a team of seven student interns from a range of disciplinary backgrounds took part in a research project that conducted focus groups and interviews with a wide diversity of students at Exeter University. The results highlighted the need for an online social prescribing directory to connect students with their peers and with activities within and beyond the university campuses in Exeter and Cornwall.
Thanks to the Children and Young People’s Wellbeing Engagement and Impact Award the project produced a web directory and an App designed to enhance student experience through providing them with easy access to up-to-date information on peer support and activities within and beyond the university. Despite the multitude of groups and activities available to students, many feel uncomfortable making initial contact, particularly when these groups/activities appear well established and/or socially bounded. The groups and activities included in this pilot phase were therefore selected because of their stated willingness to provide individualised peer support for students. The directory is now being piloted across personal tutors and student peer support groups. The research team will monitor how it is used and experienced by students and staff.
Once piloted, the social prescribing directory will be refined and expanded to include a wider range of organisations/groups within and beyond the university campus. Exeter is one of only a small handful of Higher Education institutions currently offering a social prescribing initiative. We aim to research how the social prescribing directory is used, and how it can be maximised to benefit students from a diverse range of backgrounds.