SMARTEN
  • Contact
  • About
    • Conference 2020
    • Leadership
    • Student Media Team
    • Student Team 20/21 >
      • Student Team 19/20
      • Student Team 18/19
  • Take part
    • Groups >
      • Lab Group
      • SIGs
      • Discussion Groups
    • Participate in Research
  • Funding
    • Funding FAQs
    • Funded Research 2019
    • Funded Research 2020
  • Blog
    • Blog Post Guidance
  • Resources
    • COVID 19 Study >
      • Suggestions following Covid Research
    • Reading List
    • Review of National Surveys
    • Interviews
    • Newsletter
  • Mental Health Research Matters

Blog.

The SMaRteN blog is where we hear from practitioners, academics, students and others about their work in the student mental health sector. 
We're always looking for new Blog posts: to contribute, email smarten@kcl.ac.uk or read our Blog Post Guidance.

Supporting others: How are peers and colleagues who provide help feeling?

2/16/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture

​​As evidence grows that many researchers experience poor mental health, it is becoming imperative to understand the experiences of those who may be offering support to these individuals. Indeed, without this knowledge it is difficult to appropriately support, train and value those who help colleagues going through mental health difficulties. 


Read More
0 Comments

Factors affecting student mental health

2/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​The student lifestyle in January 2021 is unrecognisable compared to what it was a year ago. Lectures and seminars are online, socialising is basically limited to cold and rainy walks, and the number of students living at home has risen significantly. Naturally, this has all taken a toll on the mental health of students around the country. I recently got the opportunity to chat with Dominic Smithies from Student Minds about this topic, and he identified four main ways in which the pandemic has impacted students’ mental wellbeing.


Read More
0 Comments

Social prescribing: A paradigm shift in our discussion on student mental health and wellbeing

2/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​In the UK, there is increasing interest in social prescribing as a possible approach for addressing complex health and psychosocial issues in primary care, as well as its potential to reduce existing health inequalities (1).

Social prescribing enables frontline healthcare professionals to refer patients to a wide range of non-clinical services, by connecting patients, via a link worker, to assets within the voluntary and community sector to encourage self-care and facilitate healthy communities (2, 3).

Read More
0 Comments

Motivation and mental health

1/11/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Might different types of motivation for going to university influence student mental health?
​
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation has been described as the ‘inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise one’s capabilities, to explore, and to learn’.1 Students who go to university primarily to continue their learning and development and to be intellectually challenged and stimulated are therefore intrinsically motivated.


Read More
0 Comments

What is mental health literacy?

11/22/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Eadie and Josh from the Student Research Team talk about the session they’re planning at this year’s conference, lifting the lid on Mental Health Literacy.  

So what is mental health literacy (MHL)?


Read More
0 Comments

WHAT INTERVENTIONS WORK?

11/19/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Emilie and Elizabeth from the Student Research Team talk about the session they’re planning at this year’s conference, and explain why it’s not to be missed..


Read More
0 Comments

The Student MENTAL HEALTH PARTNERSHIPS PROJECT

11/11/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
We are excited to be a part of the Student Mental Health Partnerships project! As a Student Fellow, I have been really enjoying working closely with Kirsty, our research coordinator. Our student co-production idea plays a small part in the much wider overall Student Mental Health Partnerships project[1], funded by Office for Students and led by the University of the West of England (UWE). These partnerships have emerged in response to the fivefold increase in students declaring their mental health concerns over recent years[2]. The aim of this project is to develop partnerships between seven universities and the NHS for students mental health. 


Read More
0 Comments

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: Covid, Mental Health and Loneliness

11/6/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
​We know that, for all of us as social beings, no matter what our age, social support and social contact is incredibly important for wellbeing. Social life has really important functions for students who are young adults starting out at university. At that transitional life stage, it is important share experiences with peers, and to establish social connections. Therefore, the potential impacts of the restrictions on social contact imposed by disease containment measures may result in increased loneliness. That is, a painful feeling that arises when there is a gap between actual and desired social contact. 


Read More
0 Comments

‘Spoon-feeding’: a contributor to student mental distress?

9/30/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Despite A-level results improving steadily since the 1990s there has been a surge in reported levels of student mental distress at UK universities, often resulting from academic pressures. (1) How can it be that students are leaving school with higher grades than ever, yet are struggling more at university, with knock on effects on their mental health?
​
One factor may be the phenomenon of ‘spoon-feeding’.

What is spoon-feeding?


Read More
0 Comments

Identified

9/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Growing up, I've always felt like an anomaly - but not someone who stuck out, more like someone blurred in between the lines. I was surrounded by people who looked similar to me, sure, but that made it worse. I would compare myself, with people that were going on completely different paths, playing a game that I wouldn't win. That wasn't enough to discourage my thoughts, though. I was too quiet to stand out, maybe because the noise in my head was enough to silence my voice. I wouldn't make too much of it, I often dismissed my feelings. I took everything on the chin and brushed it off because "everyone felt like this" and "everyone struggled, so it's not a big deal". Toxic right? ​


Read More
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018

    Categories

    All
    Academic Identity
    Anthropology
    Assessment Design
    Belonging
    Coping
    Counselling
    Creative Arts
    Culture
    Ethnography
    Learning Analytics
    Midwifery Students
    Mixed Methods
    Nursing Students
    Participate In Research
    Pedagogy
    Peer Support
    Perfectionism
    PhD Students
    Positive Psychology

    RSS Feed

    Your Blog

    We are using this blog to help connect stakeholders across Higher Education interested in student mental health. If you have a project you are working on or an idea you'd like to develop, why not write your own blog post for us?

Welcome to the SMaRteN Network! We hope to hear from you soon.

Keep us up to date with your research! We love to showcase members' work and initiatives in student mental health research. 


Email

smarten@kcl.ac.uk
Sign up
  • Contact
  • About
    • Conference 2020
    • Leadership
    • Student Media Team
    • Student Team 20/21 >
      • Student Team 19/20
      • Student Team 18/19
  • Take part
    • Groups >
      • Lab Group
      • SIGs
      • Discussion Groups
    • Participate in Research
  • Funding
    • Funding FAQs
    • Funded Research 2019
    • Funded Research 2020
  • Blog
    • Blog Post Guidance
  • Resources
    • COVID 19 Study >
      • Suggestions following Covid Research
    • Reading List
    • Review of National Surveys
    • Interviews
    • Newsletter
  • Mental Health Research Matters