INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO EMBEDDING WELLBEING IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

"Supporting student mental health and wellbeing continues to be a foremost concern in Higher Education (HE), as rates of students presenting with mental health conditions, distress and poor wellbeing increase and as demand for counselling and support services exceeds supply. The age range of students in third level education often coincides with the challenging transitional period of emerging adulthood, where instabilities are further compounded by academic, financial, and social pressures. As HE institutes are distinct settings where academic work, hobbies, social life, as well as health and other services are often integrated, HE presents a unique opportunity to address this wider societal concern through a systems-based lens. Despite calls for holistic, whole of institution approaches, a transformation of student wellbeing has yet to be realised. During a national initiative for valuing teaching and learning in HE in Ireland, the authors hosted an engaged online event to mobilise learning and action in the student wellbeing community. The event included case study presentations from existing examples of wellbeing in the curriculum, a panel discussion on the national landscape, and an open discussion on the future of wellbeing in HE. Attendees included academic faculty, HE management, researchers, staff from health and counselling services and health promotion, student representatives, careers and support services, and others. Data were collected via the recorded oral contributions, Zoom chat, and an anonymous survey. A deductive thematic analysis was completed with the guiding concept of an institution as a system that supports wellbeing. Findings proposed shared values as the compass for organisational culture, leaders and decision makers as key enablers of change, academic structures as both a vehicle to promote positive wellbeing and mitigate negative impacts, academic staff as the embodiment of the institution and its values, and the student voice as a guide for informed decision making. Recognising an institution as part of a wider system of HE which is influenced by political and economic climates, there is a requirement for HE to set out its stall with respect to its purpose and responsibility to wellbeing. This affirmation could enable a shared understanding of and commitment to wellbeing across the sector, through which collaborative and system-based efforts to support wellbeing can be actioned."