Working with an advisory Student Panel throughout our student mental health project, we gained valuable insights into how students experience current support systems in higher education. It was important to us to let that perspective inform the development of this project to avoid making assumptions about the student experience.

The Student Panel included students from various backgrounds, courses and higher education providers, all with a keen interest in promoting student mental health.

We want to thank all the students involved in the Student Panel, as their dedication and engagement in this project were central to keeping the Student Mental Health project focused on those it was designed to help: the students.

Read an in-depth conversation the student Panel had with Sandra Binns, the HE Student Support Champion Project Manager, about work of the HE Student Support Champion (Professor Edward Peck).

Read insights from Jasmine Neesam, a third-year psychology student at the University of Leeds and student panel member for the project, on enhancing the university experience through empathy, diversity, and proactive mental health initiatives.

Our journey with the Student Panel

Early consultation with the Student Panel

Initially, the students consulted on our key terms and glossary. In those first discussions about the kind of language we should use to talk about student mental health, the students asked us what mental health models we relied on. Their questioning prompted us to look at  our rationale behind using non-clinical language and to clarify when exceptions could be useful. In this way, the students’ input helped to focus our communications about the project.

Conversations in our preliminary workshops focused our attention to the way students view the stigmatisation of mental health and the way this is manifested in language. We were then able to apply this learning to elements of our research, particularly the qualitative sector engagement work where we could compare the way practitioners and stakeholders viewed mental health stigma to that of the students.

Student panel focus groups

We also asked the students to participate in focus groups in which we asked them to imagine a newly built university with good mental health at the core of its design. In the focus groups, we asked them to describe how this institution would feel and how it would look before mapping out the kinds of communities of care that would be involved in building and maintaining this ideal hypothetical higher education provider.

We identified three key themes out of the focus group discussions: student definitions of good mental health, the kinds of institutional practices that would promote good mental health and the relationships that would promote good mental health.

From our Student Panel, we learned that good mental health is inextricably tied to safety and empowerment. There was a keen awareness from the students that what they need to succeed is a nurturing environment where student voice is taken seriously. There is a call for HEPs to build holistic systems of care much like the whole university approach where students are seen as a whole person rather than a statistic or a problem.

Stakeholder engagement

In the final Student Panel meetings, we discussed how to involve students and student networks in disseminating the Student Mental Health Evidence Hub. The Student Panel has contributed to blogs, a video and other media outputs to help inform the sector about the project.

We also hosted a conversation with Sandra Binns, the Student Support Champion Project Manager. The students posed questions about current practices at different universities and common issues and solutions in student mental health. You can read more about the conversation between our Student Panel and Sandra Binns here.

Feedback from the Student Panel

When asked for feedback, the Student Panel overwhelmingly agreed that they enjoyed networking with fellow students and exchanging ideas and experiences around a topic close to everyone’s hearts. They also mentioned the importance of feeling part of a bigger project that could make a difference to many students in the future.

Our feedback session also taught us that the students have had many positive experiences of support services in their universities, particularly from dedicated individuals working in those services. They also acknowledged the flexibility of universities after COVID-19 and the increasing availability of online support groups.

The Student Panel emphasised the need for universities to take a more proactive approach towards mental health. For the students, a proactive approach means looking at each point at which a student interacts with their institution and examining how it might affect the individual. They gave a variety of suggestions for areas of improvement based on their own experiences, from implementing support programmes transitioning into university to personalising letters regarding extenuating circumstances rather than automating them. The students concluded that such changes should be made through consultation with student representatives.

TASO’s thoughts

Student mental health is a continually changing landscape, and working with the Student Panel gave us insight into students’ current experiences. Engaging the student voice throughout the project ensured that the Student Mental Health Hub is relevant and valuable to the students in higher education now. We found working with a panel of students extremely valuable, and we are keen to continue working collaboratively with student representatives.