Student Mental Health & Wellbeing – UCC online seminar

Student Mental Health and Wellbeing: Overview and Future Directions

Date: Wednesday 20th October 2021
Venue: Online – Microsoft Teams.  Join the talk HERE

Organiser: University College Cork, Dr Michele Hill
CPD: Approved for 1 External / Internal Credit by CPsychI.

An online event Chaired by Prof Mary Cannon, RCSI, and UCC Students Union, with a presentation delivered by Dr Michele Hill UCC, followed by discussion.

The mental health needs of third-level students are a major societal concern, with the gap between the demand for services and support offered at crisis level.  In Ireland, similar to elsewhere, colleges have responded to this in vastly differing ways, with student counselling services the central offering in all institutions, and student health departments and sessional psychiatry in some of the larger institutions, with none operating as a single multidisciplinary service.  There is an increasing recognition for a more systematised approach, with the establishment of International Networks, Charters and Frameworks. These advocate for a whole institutional approach to student mental health, in addition to the development of an integrated system of supports with effective pathways to appropriate care. This talk contextualises student mental health currently and describes future directions for this emerging field.  It advocates for the need to develop a structure that supports the needs of students with mental health problems across the full range of the spectrum from mild to severe.  It also explains the background to the recently developed UCC Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy UCC Mental Health Strategy