The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Staff and students at RGU unveil new wellbeing plan
● School of health sciences to use mindfulness in the classroom
Staff and students at Robert Gordon University have vowed to take action to make their campus a safe and welcoming community in response to a rising tide of students in Scotland struggling with their mental health.
New ventures are planned for September, the beginning of a new academic year, with peer support groups, online information hubs and increased staff training all to be implemented.
Bosses also plan to build on the Mental Health Agreement, which ensures that anyone experiencing mental ill health can feel able to continue their studies without stigma or discrimination.
Both projects were created in “tandem” between staff, students and professionals.
Filippo Antoniazzi, RGU’s director of student life, said: “Hiring an adequate number of counsellors is important, but we want to help people before they reach that crisis level.
“We’ve been teaching staff to spot the signs of poor mental health in their students, and hope to prevent students reaching breaking point.”
Mr Antoniazzi explained that RGU will soon launch a service called Silvercloud to deliver online therapeutic and psycho-education programmes.
It is hoped that the new service, which could be used anonymously and at any time, would be beneficial to male students in need of initial signposting to support.
In addition, clubs and societies such as male sports teams will be offered training surrounding the topic of gender based violence.
In his manifesto, RGU Student President for education and welfare Adam James Johnston, promised to create a “quiet space” on campus, which he successfully created at Woolmanhill student accommodation.
He also pledged to create a peer support group, which will be in place by the next academic year.
Mr Johnston said: “Every single student struggles with mental health.
“This can arise from a number of issues, such as studies themselves, the price of rent or being away from home relationships.
“There are so many new and increasingly complex problems to work with, but in partnership with the university the student union hopes to create real change.”
The focus on improving mental health for students has seeped across campus, with many individual schools now launching their own projects.
The school of health sciences are currently undertaking a resilience project to promote mindfulness, and are using the method as a teaching strategy in the classroom. and
If successful, the findings from the project will be used to implement mindfulness in classrooms not only in Aberdeen, but across the country.
The new effort comes after the university community was rocked by a social media scandal that targeted women in the city’s higher education establishments and which has already seen RGU vow to further increase their work with the Speak Up Speak Out campaign, created to tackle gender based violence.
In addition to the other measures, at the Scott Sutherland school of architecture, Professor David McClean is leading a study into understanding the patterns and causes of stress and anxiety in students.
Liz Hancock, viceprincipal for student experience, said: “We want to embed resilience and mindfulness in our staff and students to drive change.”
She added: “RGU is known for its employability and entrepreneurship, but we want to add wellbeing to that.”
To find out more, visit www.rguunion. co.uk/about/campaigns/ mentalhealth.
“We want to help before they reach crisis level”