‘Five hours to sort out your life’: qualitative study of the experiences of university students who access mental health support

Abstract

Background Previous qualitative research suggests that university students feel that current service provision does not meet their needs. Exploring the reasons for this may help to promote service change, encourage the uptake of care, improve outcomes and increase satisfaction within university services. Aims This study aimed to improve the understanding of how students experience the process of accessing and using mental health support, barriers and facilitators to treatment, and how students would adapt provision to improve experiences. Method Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 full-time students who had used mental health services at university. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Five higher-order themes were identified: personalisation and informed choice, simplifying the process, feeling abandoned ignored or invisible, stigma, and superiority of private and external services. Sixteen subthemes were identified within these themes. Conclusions Findings indicate that access to mental health support should be simplified, with collaboration across university and external health and care services, to prevent students feeling lost or abandoned when seeking care. An inclusive approach to support access and provision of services for all presentations of mental health problems should be developed.

Are students less likely to respond to routinely delivered psychological treatment? A retrospective cohort analysis

“…It has been suggested that students are more likely to drop out of interventions [ 25 ], but this was not supported by the current study. A qualitative study reported that students want more, rather than less treatment [ 18 ], and this may particularly impact attrition in those students who seek additional support external to university services. Of note, in those receiving predominantly high intensity care, students may not experience a reduced likelihood of attrition with higher session frequency to the extent that employed adults do.…”

“…There have been efforts to improve university campus-based mental health services in recent years [ 16 , 17 ], however a large number of students are seen in routine healthcare services external to student campuses [ 18 , 19 ]. This is likely to continue to be the case given long waiting times and limited choice of treatment in some campus-based services [ 16 , 18 ].…”

“…There have been efforts to improve university campus-based mental health services in recent years [ 16 , 17 ], however a large number of students are seen in routine healthcare services external to student campuses [ 18 , 19 ]. This is likely to continue to be the case given long waiting times and limited choice of treatment in some campus-based services [ 16 , 18 ]. Further, universities may consider general student wellbeing as their responsibility and as such tailor campus based services to meet this need [ 20 , 21 ], but consider healthcare and illness (including the experience of mental health conditions) as the responsibility of external medical services.…”

“…However, it is not clear how well such services meet the needs of students in particular and there has been limited explicit comparison of treatment outcomes in external metal health services between students and non-students. This contrasts with research with explicit focus on the services provided within universities, which have received significantly more scrutiny in recent years [ 18 , 22 ]. Comparisons within external services may help to inform service design and provision to make it better tailored to student needs, particularly given calls for improved links between university based and national health service mental health services as part of a whole university approach [ 23 , 24 ].…”

“Weird duality”: Learning from peer mentors’ experiences of supporting student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Other research has identified concerns among students about the capability of university professionals to support them with mental health problems. 29 A range of visible, networked, non-stigmatising and accessible services, which include peer mentoring, appears to best meet the needs of university students. 15,29 The study additionally adds to the literature on training and support needs of peer mentors 14 and peer providers more generally.…”