Why Every University Needs an Effective 'Mental Health Plan'

Abstract

Non-optimal mental health and mental illness can have significant impacts on staff and students within a university context. Rates of mental illness and risk factors appear higher in university populations than the general population, creating vulnerability and increased risk. Many universities have a range of high quality services and programs available for staff and students, yet lack an articulated 'mental health plan'. Such a plan should include elements such as policy, procedures, plans, staff training, targeted campaigns, partnerships and audit data. The risks in not having a mental health plan warrant serious consideration. Many Australian universities have collaborated and made a range of resources available for perusal and use, and exemplars of best practice were articulated as an outcome of the 2011 Australian National Summit on the Mental Health of Tertiary Students. Exemplars of best practice were identified via a web based environmental scan, and are recommended as starting points in developing a proactive, systemic, aspirational, and inclusive mental health plan. Equally, the environmental scan demonstrated a number of problematic features, and serious omissions, in existing university mental health plans.