What good looks like in embedding mental health support across HE

The third Monday in January is often considered the most depressing day of the year but across the higher education sector colleagues are working to celebrate the support available for mental wellbeing in an effort to refocus on the positives to be found in mental wellbeing.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic started an Office for Students (OfS) 2019 insight briefing acknowledged “more students than ever are reporting mental health conditions”, and many have noted the increasing importance of mental health and wellbeing as the pandemic developed, not only through mainstream media but through HE activity within providers and across the sector.

This week a team from seven HE providers is publishing a suite of open educational resources on embedding mental wellbeing in all aspects of higher education to highlight positive activity in the sector in support of enhanced student mental wellbeing. The resources are the results of an extensive QAA collaborative enhancement project to establish definitions for “embedded mental wellbeing”, share good practice, and identify the benefits for embedding mental wellbeing in curricula activity.