Top Tips for Delivering an Inclusive Wellbeing Agenda
Studies have consistently shown that identity is important to wellbeing. Having a positive sense of one’s own identity can help individuals to cultivate group relationships and encourage a sense of belonging; having a negative view of one’s identity, on the other hand, can have negative outcomes for self-worth and mental health.
This is no less the case in university environments, where students of all backgrounds come together in the pursuit of higher education. Wellbeing agendas, therefore, must address the importance of identity in their output.
Importantly, however, students from certain identity groups have differential wellbeing outcomes. A 2019 study by the Office for Students (OfS) revealed that Black students with mental health issues have some of the lowest continuation rates. Similarly, evidence suggests that students who identify as LGBTQ+ are more susceptible to suffering poor mental health, while a 2022 survey found that half of disabled students in the UK struggle with their mental health.
Across the sector, the growing volume of students and the effects of the pandemic also means encountering students with more complex mental health needs.
Developing a holistic approach to wellbeing that reaches students in at-risk groups is crucial. In this article, we suggest four key steps to developing this approach. We point to helpful resources online that can be used to plan your delivery as well as successful examples being rolled out in institutions across the sector.
Embed Mental Health into the Curriculum
While the sector has seen an increase of students disclosing mental health conditions since the pandemic, underreporting still remains a challenge for many. In 2020, a UCAS report found that half of first year students chose not to declare a mental health condition in their university application.
This issue becomes increasingly complex for students from underrepresented backgrounds. For example, ethnic minority students are at once more likely to experience a mental health issue and less likely to seek support than their white peers. This might be triggered by a range of factors, including cultural attitudes that attach stigma to mental health and fear of facing discrimination.
It can, therefore, be difficult to reach these students in your wellbeing agenda delivery. So, it’s important to remember the one place that all students are pretty much guaranteed to come into contact with university staff: through the curriculum.
Embedding mental health education and resilience training into the curriculum is a great way to circumvent the issue of non-disclosure and even encourage students to come forward by reducing the stigma around poor mental health.
This approach might look like:
Including compulsory sessions that aim to equip students with the tools to manage their own wellbeing into induction programmes.
Delegating a ‘mental health champion’ within each faculty who can talk to students about their own issues of mental health and encourage them to come forward.
Sharing AdvanceHE’s guide on embedding mental health into the curriculum with academic staff and collaborate with them on module design.
Creating resources and delivering teaching in line with a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) that works to accommodate the needs and abilities of all students, including mental health needs. As a project by Enhancement Themes on the mental health of BAME and LGBTQ+ students found, an inclusive curriculum can promote belonging and wellbeing.
Training teaching staff to recognise and flag mental health issues specifically among disadvantaged students. The University of Exeter, for example, runs online courses instructing staff who work with students how to identify signs of poor mental health.
Make sure to signpost students to your other mental health support, such as resources or counselling, when delivering the curriculum.
Support Students to Build Networks
Students experience a great deal of transition through their time at university. From moving away from home, to dealing with new pressures and having to live independently, these life changes can impact on their sense of belonging.
When belonging is at risk, students are more likely to feel lonely – and, as studies have shown, experience poor mental health. Mental health charity Mind found that there are certain groups who are more susceptible to feeling lonely, including those from ethnic minority communities, those who identify as LGBTQ+, those who are care experienced and those who have a long-term disability.
As not all students will have the confidence to access your services, it’s vital that you support them in building their own networks and communities. You might provide them with the infrastructure to do so by:
Developing a Peer Mentorship Programme that supports students through transitions, as the University of West London has done.
Signposting them to external networking resources such as Mind’s Peer Support Directory or the Hub of Hope.
Developing targeted programmes for specific student groups, such as the University of Bath’s Autism Social Group. Students from underrepresented backgrounds may be more likely to engage if they feel that they will be surrounded by others with similar experiences to them.
Working with student societies on induction programmes so that students are aware of their activities and can get involved early in the lifecycle.
By encouraging students to build communities within the institution, you can empower them to build resilience, support others and take autonomy over their own wellbeing.
Link Mental Health and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Initiatives
We often hear the phrase “representation matters” and this can be especially poignant when it comes to cultivating a sense of belonging and sound wellbeing among underrepresented students.
One of the reasons students from underrepresented backgrounds may not come forward to disclose mental health issues is that they fear their experience won’t be understood. That’s why ensuring your services represent the students they support is key.
When students are applying for counselling support, you may give them the option to indicate if they would like to speak with a counsellor with experience in a certain area. For example, Black students may wish to speak to a Black counsellor, or someone who has previous experience counselling those whose lived experience is adjacent to their own.
Many institutions are working to link their EDI practices with a university-wide wellbeing approach.
The University of York have a designated Student Disability Lead within their mental health services. Within their wellbeing directory, they provide information and resources for students experiencing distress due to financial insecurity.
Providing adjustments for those with mental health issues should also be part of your EDI practice. AdvanceHE have a helpful guide on understanding this.
The University of Bristol’s Student Health Service and Middlesex University’s UniHub have dedicated webpages providing information, resources and support to LGBTQ+ students.
Loughborough University lists some of the issues faced by BAME students that are likely to trigger or exacerbate mental health conditions, which can indicate to students that their experience is understood. They then go on to explain what the institution is doing to challenge racial inequality, outline available support and signpost to external resources.
While representation is important, it’s key to remember that the burden to solve inequality in mental health should not fall on those facing inequity. As such, when including underrepresented groups in your services, ensure mentors and those working on the project have sufficient access to wellbeing support.
Similarly, you should also reward staff who take on mental wellbeing roles to ensure their work is recognised and celebrated.
Collaborate with Students to Build Solutions
Working with students to design your approach to wellbeing is a great way to ensure their needs are being met.
Doing so can also help you to develop a holistic approach to wellbeing within your institution. Often the focus tends to be on delivering interventions to students who are already struggling with their mental health. While not every student with poor mental health will be suffering as a result of the university context, it’s worth asking what institutional processes cause stresses and anxieties that allow negative thought patterns to germinate and grow.
Similarly, working with students can support the development of a preventative approach. Students will be able to identify key moments and issues in the student lifecycle that trigger poor mental health and put strategies in place to alleviate them.
This is extremely important when it comes to underrepresented students as their needs are often complex, multifaceted and misunderstood at the institutional level.
You should aim to codesign inclusivity programmes alongside underrepresented students so that they feel understood and that their lived experience is valued. This will increase their sense of belonging and, consequently, have positive impacts on wellbeing.
We can turn to some insightful examples of co-creation from across the sector for inspiration:
Northumbria University’s Student Inclusion Consultants (SICs) programme sees widening participation students work with staff to review an element of practice across the university, contribute to content development with an inclusion lens, share insights with members of staff and contribute to the development of scholarship opportunities.
Edge Hill University developed a Student Advisory Panel to gather the feedback and enact change on the recommendations of their Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students. They have since expanded the project to work with care experienced and estranged students. To find out more about this initiative, see their deep dive case study on HE Professional.
These initiatives serve to improve the general wellbeing of underrepresented or disadvantaged students. You might consider adapting some of these approaches to focus more closely on a wellbeing agenda; for example, a Student Advisory Panel might contribute directly to the development of wellbeing resources. Similarly, an SIC could work directly with the wellbeing team to offer insight into their practice.
Make sure to indicate to your students that their voices are valued and heard, rather than tokenistic. Implementing the changes they suggest and providing a clear structure for the co-creation programme will help to ensure this.
The examples above resulted in changes to institutional practices, including:
Amendments to make the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) more accessible for disabled students (Northumbria).
Rebranding of the university Chaplaincy service to make it more inclusive to students of different faiths (Edge Hill).
The development of a Race, Ethnicity and Religion Toolkit (Edge Hill).
The introduction of library walk-ins to signpost students towards accessible materials and resources (Northumbria).
Wellbeing for All
Acknowledging the differential wellbeing outcomes that underrepresented or disadvantaged students might face is key to developing impactful interventions. Practitioners might review their existing procedures and ask the following questions:
Do students from underrepresented backgrounds engage with our mental health services?
What barriers might discourage underrepresented students from accessing our services?
Are our services sensitive to the different challenges faced by underrepresented groups?
After exploring the answers to some of these questions, you can identify the parts of your service that need development.
