Establishing a sustainable interdisciplinary network of GW4 university staff to bring about positive change in the higher education community for improved mental health

This seed project aims to establish a sustainable GW4 university staff network from different backgrounds and disciplines to better understand poor mental health (MH) in the higher education (HE) community, what is currently being done and further needs. This project will inform future collaborations and applications for funding to scope, develop, implement and evaluate change interventions.  

The network will integrate social, cultural, economic, political, environmental and international perspectives to take a community psychology approach on the issues of MH in HE. This approach fits with recent developments in other work-place settings (e.g., healthcare) that are moving from a focus on individual causal factors (e.g., life events and limited coping strategies) and resolutions (e.g., resilience and mindfulness skills), to incorporate more cultural and systemic factors (e.g., meeting basic staff needs, trauma-informed practice, decompression space and a culture of shared responsibility for MH).