{"id":2760,"date":"2018-05-30T13:22:48","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T13:22:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/?p=2760"},"modified":"2023-03-22T12:40:29","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T12:40:29","slug":"minding-the-gap-cardiffs-strategy-for-supporting-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/2018\/05\/30\/minding-the-gap-cardiffs-strategy-for-supporting-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Minding the gap: Cardiff\u2019s strategy for supporting students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In May, a Universities UK report warned that a generation of students are at risk of \u201cslipping through the gaps\u201d in mental health services.<\/p>\n

With 75% of mental illnesses manifesting by age 24 and the unique circumstances that come with engaging in full time study, it is easy to see why 94% of higher education institutions have seen an increase in those looking to gain access to support.<\/p>\n

\u201cUniversity life brings a host of new challenges and pressures for students.\u00a0The financial pressures are considerable, alongside the academic demand itself of studying,\u201d says Professor Deborah Cohen (MD 2008), director of Student Support at Cardiff\u2019s School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial factors include being removed from the support structures of friends and family, increased exposure to alcohol and drugs, and the pressure to \u2018fit in\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her assessment tallies with the experience of Cardiff graduand George Watkins (English Literature and Philosophy 2015-), who has been through his own difficulties and served as Cardiff University Students\u2019 Union\u2019s Mental Health Officer in 2017-18.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t in a great place when I arrived at University,\u201d said George. \u201cI\u2019ve always struggled with anxiety; initially I was on lots of medication. It only takes two hours for me to get home from Cardiff and that was a motivating factor in my choice. I wanted that safety net.\u201d<\/p>\n

For, George coming to Cardiff \u201copened up the world again\u201d. But even then, he says, \u201cthere were still hard times\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in denial about my mental health issues. Things came to a head and I was in a place you could describe as suicidal. It was then that I went to the University\u2019s Student Support; they provided me with emergency counselling and really just kept me going. It\u2019s something I\u2019m incredibly grateful for.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Professor Cohen is clear that supporting mental wellbeing in moments of need is something Cardiff is wholly committed to, but emphasises that the University is looking to go further.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re launching a new study with the National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH),\u201d she says.\u00a0By recruiting a cohort of Cardiff students follow over time, the study will \u201cinvestigate how mental health concerns might change as students progress, and what the\u00a0risk factors and protective factors for their mental health may be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, this study aims to improve access to, provision of and engagement with Cardiff University student services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neuroscience and mental health<\/h2>\n

But \u2013 given Cardiff\u2019s expertise in this field \u2013 it is imperative that the research goes beyond service delivery and to the core of some the factors which underpin our mental health in the neurodevelopmental phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that most mental health problems start early in life,\u201d says Professor Jeremy Hall, director of Cardiff\u2019s Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute. \u201cOur research focusses on integrating child and adolescent mental health wherever possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to establishing an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) support team at the University to provide help for those with a range of conditions, the Institute was recently awarded a \u00a31m grant by the Medical Research Council to undertake a larger scale Pathfinder initiative.<\/p>\n

The idea is to share clinical, environmental, developmental and biological data \u2013 and part of the project will consist of setting up an adolescent cohort, looking into mental health in schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that as a University with a high profile in mental health research we address the issues related to mental health problems at this vulnerable stage,\u201d says Professor Hall.<\/p>\n

George couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, these aren\u2019t just places of education; universities have a duty of care to their students. Hopefully we can lead by example for the rest of the UK.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In May, a Universities UK report warned that a generation of students are at risk of \u201cslipping through the gaps\u201d in mental health services.","protected":false},"author":1106,"featured_media":2564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiff-connect","category-news"],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2760"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2788,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2760\/revisions\/2788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}