mental wellbeing for international students: following best practice ruth caleb head of counselling,...
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Mental Wellbeing for International Students: Following best practice
Ruth CalebHead of Counselling, Brunel University London
Chair, UUK Mental Wellbeing in HE Working Group (MWBHE)
Vida DouglasConsultant in Academic Practice
Higher Education Academy
June 2015
International Students
The number of international students in UK HEIs has been steadily rising over the last decade
HESA figures indicate that in 2013-4 almost 300,000 international students and over 125,000 EU students were studying here.
International student numbers are increasing and now make up over 18% of our university student cohort.
All students have worries…• HEA / HEPI survey (10% less happy than the general
population) (Time To Change Health check)• University support services have seen a large increase in
students with serious and complex mental health problems, disproportionate to the rise in student numbers.
• Over the last five years, the proportion of students who declared a mental health disability increased from 6% in 2007-08 to 10% in 2011-12. Many students prefer not to disclose mental ill health, so we must assume that these figures are a likely to be a considerable underestimate of students with mental health problems.
• The number of counselling clients in many services has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
Following the international student journey…Exercise
• Form 5 groups:– Pre-Arrival– Arrival– Year 1– Year 2– Final yearList all the aspects you can think of to support the mental wellbeing of international students .
Write them on a flip chart and feed back.
Pre-arrival
• Pre-departure events and webinars• Outline anticipated challenges–Weather, clothing, food, –educational style– Expense of studying abroad
• Mailbase to link new students together
Arrival
• Coping with homesickness and culture shock– Buddy systems– Academic department embedding activities, e.g.
‘treasure hunts’• Challenging loneliness:– Airport Welcome Service – International Orientation Programme
Year 1
• Helping international students to embed – concentrate on fresher’s week, or a ‘long thin’ induction?
• Support for families of students• Language difficulties• Dealing with problems back home• Working with cultural differences in attitudes to
accepting support• Coping with vacations, whether returning home
or not…
Year 2
• Sorting out private accommodation• Who to live with?• How to cope with the year 2 doldrums– Volunteering?– Becoming an international ambassador / buddy?– Joining student union activities?
Final year
• Supporting concerns for the future • Employment opportunities• Achievement or failure?• Visa problems• Helping international students to
communicate with their families on their return home
Following best practice• Curriculum Design/Delivery– Student induction– Culturally diverse
content – Scheduling of
examinations
• Inclusive environments– Services/Support– Culture/Values– Mindfulness
• University commitment– Policy/strategy– The global student
• The student experience– Co-production approach
to care– Student ambassadors
Wellbeing Initiatives for All
Throughout the course journey …
• Celebrations of diversity e.g. ‘One World Week’• Offer a wide range of services that all students
can benefit from.• Engagement in world issues, offering support
where required, e.g. international disasters
Finally…
• Any questions?
• Thank you for coming to this discussion group!
• Email: [email protected]@heacademy.ac.uk