Facilitators and Barriers Highlighted by On-Campus Service Providers for Students Seeking Mental Health Services

Abstract

The prevalence of mental illness is increasing among post-secondary students. Despite more mental health services being of-fered within post-secondary institutions, uptake among students remains suboptimal. This study aimed to examine facilitators and barriers for students seeking mental health services through service providers’ perspectives. Twenty-four semi-structured interviews were conducted at a southwestern Ontario post-secondary institution and were analyzed using thematic analysis using NVivo. Facilitators revealed include strengthening communication techniques; improving equity, diversity, and inclu-sion; increasing social media promotion; and providing incentives. Barriers identified include fear of judgement, time con-straints, individual perceptions of the need for services, unawareness, and higher-level barriers such as lowered capacity of staff and physical resources. These facilitators and barriers should be used in tandem with the Theory of Planned Behaviour to help improve uptake and effectiveness of campus mental health services.

Mental illness misconceptions among undergraduates: Prevalence, correlates, and instructional implications.

“…Additionally, 37.1 million adults aged 18 or older received mental health services during the past 12 months (SAMHSA, 2019). This need may be especially pressing among college students given that students’ use of therapy rose nationally by almost 40% from 2009 to 2015 (MacDonald, 2020). Hence, correcting the erroneous beliefs of current and future consumers of mental health services, including college students, is of paramount importance.…”

Listening to students: Perspectives, Experiences, and Next Steps

“…For instance, students who completed high school, started post-secondary or convocated during the early years of the pandemic have all experienced disruption and increased levels of stress regarding their education and future plans. The after-effects of the pandemic combined with the inflationary pressures that are being felt globally are apparent in all universities, with students struggling with mental health challenges, food insecurity, financial precarity, strained resources, and a lack of housing (Abbas et al, 2020;Banerjee et al, 2022;Bottorff et al, 2020;Hanbazaza et al, 2021;MacDonald et al, 2022). While the articles in this special issue do not ii focus on the pandemic and its economic and social aftermath, the fact that they will be ongoing for the foreseeable future means that any of the challenges highlighted here will persist and may worsen students' educational experiences.…”