READY, WILLING AND ABLE; THE UNTAPPED RESOURCES OF

STUDENT-LED SUPPORT

Colum McGuire, Vice-President (Welfare), National Union of Students (NUS)

Rosie TresslerNetworks & Projects ManagerStudent Minds@rosietressler

Brendan Mahon, Chair of Trustees, Nightline Association

TODAY WE WILL COVER...

What is ‘peer-led support’ & what is the ‘need’ and benefits?

Case studies: Student Minds and Nightline

Best practice: Conditions for safety and success in the HE setting

Discussion on student engagement: Barriers and Solutions

Q & A

Intentional peer support began with Alcoholics Anonymous, 1935.

‘The help and support that people with lived experience of a mental illness are able to give one another. It may be social, emotional or practical support, but importantly this support is mutually offered and reciprocal, allowing peers to benefit from the support whether they are giving or receiving it.’ The Mental Health Foundation, Need2Know, Peer support in mental health and learning disability, 2012

Three key types of peer support:

Informal and naturally occurring peer support,

Peer-run programmes (one-to-one peer support, group peer support, structured vs. unstructured peer support and remote peer support.),

The employment of service users as providers of support within traditional services. [See Peer Support Report]

What is peer support?

THE ‘NEED’…

49% of young people (17-30) enter HE & the age of onset of many difficulties overlaps student years

It is estimated that 29% of students experience clinical levels of psychological distress (Benwick) / In a recent NUS survey, 20% of student respondents said that they had experienced mental health difficulties

1 in 125 students disclose a mental health difficulty to their university, but in a recent ECU survey, 75% of student respondents who had experienced mental health difficulties had disclosed to a fellow student

THE ‘NEED’… WHAT ARE THE ‘GRAND

CHALLENGES’

StigmaStudent

Lifestyle

Provision of

Support

Course

Design and

Academic

Pressure

Man

agem

ent

an

d C

oord

inati

on

of

support

• Fear of being judged

• Finding confidence to tell…

• Weakness• Confidence to

ask for help• Poor general

understanding

• Stress• Loneliness• Busy – balancing

work / social life, • A need to build

skills and personal resilience to cope

• Limited understanding to look after own mental health

• Lack of sleep

• Slow and difficult referral to specialist services

• Inadequate NHS mental health provision

• Students transitioning

Mental health problems decrease concentration

THE BENEFITS OF PEER SUPPORTTo those receiving support: Empowerment, Social support, Empathy and acceptance, Reducing Stigma, Hope and motivation

To peer-supporters: Empowerment and self-esteem, Turning difficult experiences into a positive, Personal development and employability

To the university community:

Opportunity of the setting

A large number of students experiencing clinical levels of distress are not accessing support – peer support is ‘on your terms’ and can act as a ‘stepping stone’.

Integrating peer support as part of a triaging system with existing service provision has the potential to increase the capacity of services in an efficient way, releasing professionals to dedicate more attention to students with complex needs while simultaneously reaching more students and providing support over a longer period of time.

Low- cost intervention

CASE STUDIES: STUDENT MINDS PEER

SUPPORT PROGRAMMES AND NIGHTLINE

LISTENING SERVICE

Eating Disorder Support Groups

Informal support groups offering students with eating disorders support and encouragement to keep motivated through recovery.

“The support group was absolutely amazing and I

think it's the single biggest contributor to my recovery

this year”

A six-week course for students with mild depression.

- Interactive and Informative

- Implementation Intentions and Signposting

- Is this course right for you?

60% increase in confidence in

supporting a friend with an eating

disorder

Piloted at 4universities,

supporting 35individuals

“I would definitely recommend to anyone supporting someone with

an eating disorder”

“The organisers were thoughtful,

well-informed and encouraging”

‘Skills-based

learning for caring

for a loved one with

an eating disorder:

the New Maudsley

Method’ (Treasure,

Smith and Crane,

2007)

Supporting Supporters Workshops

Local Action: Over 25 uni’s

Guide for Friends: 4000+ downloads

Current Survey

Workshop pilot:

Listening skills and motivational interviewing, (Helping to shift the focus, as friends, from fixing to motivating.)

227 students across 11 workshops -average of 20 attendees in each.

Average 30% increase in how students rated their knowledge of how to support a friend at university.

Look After Your Mate Campaign

• Tackling stigma: Social contact events, Information stalls e.g. love your body/ Wellbeing fairs, ‘Meet the Professionals’, University Mental Health Day.

• University / local provision: Time to Change organisational pledge campaign, Wellbeing committee attendance

• Exam stress: Workshops e.g. Laughter/ Yoga/ Sleep!

• Social isolation: Film Nights

Measuring the impact: tracking changing perspectives before and after or random sampling of attendees (knowledge, confidence and skills)

Example Campaigns Groups Tactics

NIGHTLINE

Nightline Association has 37 member helplines across the UK and Ireland covering over 100 institutions and over 1.5 million students

Founded in 1970 at the University of Essex by Prof.Geoffey Hosking OBE and Malcolm France

Through-the-night student listening services, when other University and Union services are closed

NIGHTLINE – OUR CORE MISSION

every student is able to talk about their feelings in a safe, non-judgmental environment;

fewer students have their education compromised by emotional difficulties;

fewer students die by suicide.

NIGHTLINE – OUR PRINCIPLES

Anonymous

Confidential

Non-judgmental

Non-advisory

ENSURING QUALITY – GOOD PRACITCE

GUIDELINES

Nightline’s accreditation service Developed with input from mental health professionals,

counsellors, the Samaritans, legal experts, the Helplines Partnership and others

Cover all aspects of a Nightline’s operation to ensure they’re operating to a fantastic standard

All Nightlines to have begun accreditation by March 2015 – and accreditation is a condition of membership

IMPROVING ACCESS – OPENING NEW

NIGHTLINES

Our aim is to support all students in the UK and Ireland – if your University doesn’t currently have a Nightline and would like to have one, please speak to Mags, our Charity Manager, for more information: mags.godderidge@nightline.ac.uk

BEST PRACTICE: CONDITIONS FOR SAFETY AND

SUCCESS IN THE HE SETTING

MANAGING PEER SUPPORT SAFELY

Broadly; having a positive / recovery-focussed session, having systems in place to effectively signpost people in need of further help and support and ensuring that adequate training and supervision is in place for peer-supporters.

Comprehensive training

On-going support and supervision

Boundaries for peer-supporters

Ground rules for conversations / managing difficult situations

Confidentiality

Effective signposting

CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS IN A HIGHER EDUCATION

SETTING

Integration with existing services/ full stakeholder engagement : counselling service, the student services, the well-being centre, the welfare officer of the students’ union, the SU advice centre, the local GP and any other relevant professional services within the university or in the local area.

E.g.

CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS IN A HE SETTING

Comprehensive volunteer support: for sustainability: robust recruitment process (interviews, disclosure process), resources (newsletters/ checklists HowTo guides) facebook group, catch up calls…

Student facing Promotion: social media (virality between friends), screens, lecture shoutouts, department lists. Events (Meet & greet sessions, Meet the professionals), via personal tutors / faculties.

A little… patience!

USEFUL RESOURCES

Peer Support Report: studentminds.org.uk/university-peer-

support

studentsagainstdepression.org

Nightline

nightline.ac.uk

nightline.ac.uk/category/research/

Contact: mags.godderidge@nightline.ac.uk

Student Minds

University staff: studentminds.org.uk/for-university-staff

ED’s section: /understanding-eating-disorders

#UniMentalHealthDay: /uni-mental-health-day

Contact: rosie@studentminds.org.uk, @StudentMindsOrg

DISCUSSION ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT: BARRIERS AND SOLUTIONS

Q&A