This panel aims to provide an insight to the degree of Mental Health Literacy (MHL) across institutions and discuss the impact this is having on disclosure and help-seeking for mental health concerns. We aim to present the complexities of understanding and assessing MHL and use current research to suggest ways of improving it across higher education.
Good MHL is key to recognising, managing and preventing mental illness. By sharing our knowledge, we can empower students to improve their own MHL and feel confident in supporting themselves and their peers should they be suffering with a mental health concern.
Good MHL is key to recognising, managing and preventing mental illness. By sharing our knowledge, we can empower students to improve their own MHL and feel confident in supporting themselves and their peers should they be suffering with a mental health concern.
Meet the Speakers
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Anthony Jorm is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne and NHMRC Leadership Fellow. His research focuses on building the community’s capacity for prevention and early intervention with mental disorders. He is Editor-in-Chief of Mental Health & Prevention, Associate Editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry and Chair of the Board of Mental Health First Aid International. Previous positions he has held include NHMRC Australia Fellow, Chair of the Research Committee of Australian Rotary Health and President of the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research. He has been listed in ISI HighlyCited.com as one of the most cited researchers in Psychology/Psychiatry.
Research and Publications |
Dr Denise Meyer C. Psychol has worked in university support services since 1995, and is currently Head of Wellbeing at the University of Portsmouth. She has advisory positions with national mental health charities Student Minds and the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust (CWMT), and has published and spoken at numerous HE sector conferences on a range of student mental health topics. Denise has a longstanding interest in innovation in student support, especially through integration with learning, and in the development of empowering discourses related to psychological health. Her doctoral research, which included collaborative action research with students, investigated practical applications of empowering discourses around depression and resulted in CWMT’s award-winning Students Against Depression website, which has supported millions of users nationally and internationally. Denise’s latest publication is ‘The Student Lifecycle: Pressure points and transitions’ in Barden & Caleb (2019) Student Mental Health & Wellbeing in Higher Education: A practical guide. Sage. Her innovative Welcome Ambassadors project was promoted by the Department of Education as an example of good practice in supporting student transitions. Denise’s current interest is the integration of compassion-focused psychoeducation into the curriculum.
Denise will be referring to the following during her presentation:
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Katherine Caffrey is a counsellor, supervisor and mental health trainer in private practice and works as a mental health trainer for Charlie Waller Trust. Additionally, she delivers specialist workshops for BACP to support counsellors working with risk. She has produced university guides, through Charlie Waller, to support student mental health, including a recent guide to transitioning to university. Her counselling specialism is in working with children and young people, and she has many years of experience of working with students in a university setting.
Publications and Research
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Julia Hass is a Student Wellbeing & Welfare Manager at King's College London Student's Union. She has 8 years of experience in university health promotion, peer support and student wellbeing and welfare in the USA and UK. At King’s College London Students’ Union, she has built a sector-leading student wellbeing service through the student union
that focuses on empowering students to create communities of good wellbeing. The service focuses on embedding positive wellbeing in student communities through health promotion activities and peer support. Throughout the discussion, Julia will be referring to the following literature: Equality Challenge Unit (2015). Mental Health in HE: staff and students not accessing support. Advance HE. https://www.ecu.ac.uk/news/mental-health-staff-students-accessing-support/ Keenan, C. (2014). Mapping student-led peer learning in the UK (Rep.). York: The Higher Education Academy. Retrieved May 25, 2019, from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/resources/peer_led_learning_keenan_nov_14-final.pdf. Hill, R., & Reddy, P. (2007). Undergraduate Peer Mentoring: An Investigation into Processes, Activities and Outcomes. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 6(2), 98-103. doi:10.2304/plat.2007.6.2.98 Andreanoff, J. (2016). The Impact of Peer Coaching on the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students: A mixed methods study. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education: Special Edition: Academic Peer Learning, Part Two. Andrews, J., & Clark, R. (2011, November). Peer Mentoring Works! How Peer Mentoring Enhances Student Success in Higher Education (Rep.). Retrieved May 13, 2019, from Aston University website: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/aston_what_works_final_report_1.pdf Araujo, N. (2018a). Report on the use and effectiveness of health peer education for young people in European countries (Rep.). Royal Society for Public Health. Araujo, N. (2018b). Reviewing the evidence of effective peer education among young people. Perspectives in Public Health, 138(6), 299-300. doi:10.1177/1757913918801472 Gulliver, E., & Byrom, N. (2014). Peer Support For Student Mental Health (Rep.). Oxford: Student Minds. |
Joshua Melwani is a second year undergraduate student. He currently studies Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Manchester. His experiences within the psychology department include interning and volunteering within the education platform such as understanding young students’ mental health and promoting a positive mindset and building resilience. He also has experiences in helping youth who are victims of abuse and neglect. Within the mental health platform, he believes the phrase “that it is perfectly okay not to be okay”, is a voice that still needs recognition. On a personal level, he is a fan of theater and photography. In his spare time, he loves to read and travel. He also enjoys exploring different cultures especially through cuisine and inhaling local food and delicacies.
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Natasha Devon MBE is a writer, presenter & activist. She tours schools and colleges throughout the UK and beyond, delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender & equality. She presents on LBC 7-9pm every Saturday.
Natasha is a trustee for the charity Student Minds and a patron for No Panic, which helps people experiencing anxiety. She is a member of the Men & Boys Coalition, specifically advising on reducing male suicide rates, as well as a certified instructor for Mental Health First Aid England and eating disorder charity Beat. She is a fellow of University of Wales: Aberystwyth and advises them, as well as Coventry University: London on campus wellbeing. She has two books: ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Being Mental: An A-Z’ and ‘Yes You Can: Ace Your Exams Without Losing Your Mind’, both published by Pan Macmillan. Her podcast ‘Staying Sane’ is available on Spotify, Acast and iTunes. |
Kate Ippolito works as Principal Teaching Fellow in Educational Development based in the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS), Imperial College, London, having joined in 2013. I enjoy being programme lead for the Master’s in University Learning and Teaching and working across departments to help develop educational practice. Since October 2019, I have also been a part-time PhD student exploring the role of emotion in STEMM learning. I am particularly interested in the 3 As – teaching staff and students’ awareness of emotion in learning, what they attribute an emotion to and how this impacts on learning and well-being, and their agency for working with emotion. In this way I hope to contribute insight into developing mental health literacy. For more details see: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/k.ippolito
Throughout the discussion, Kate will be referring to the following literature:
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