to provide students with information and resources about mental health issues. Matthew explains that a number of initiatives within the library service have been initiated, saying: “The Wellbeing Library resources collection is an exam- ple of this approach, as is the Student Success Festival where we integrate a variety of support, presented in an engaging and accessible way. While SLAs (Student Learning Assistants) are students employed with a focus on learning, they provide an important pastoral role and signposting to support.
“The vision at Middlesex University is of a collaborative approach to students’ mental health where everyone who works with students has a stake. One which is flex- ible and responsive to the various identities represented within our student population – which are multicultural, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and non-binary.” The university will continue to develop and deliver activities, support and practi- cal help to students who need it. Mental health issues are likely to remain high on the agenda, and Matthew says that steps are continuously being taken to ensure the university can support students. Partnership working is already in place, but there will be opportunities to develop these further. Another key role in support during a student’s time at the university will be to offer them solutions to help them focus on wellbeing into the future. Matthew says: “Mental health is likely to be a key element of student support in the future, so it is important that we offer proactive support to manage their wellbeing every day, while ensuring that expert advice and guidance is available for students in crisis. We already work in partnership with the Student Union, external charities and the NHS, but there is scope for expanding and formalising this in future.
“The future also involves the develop- ment of approaches to mental health that are designed as the foundational equip- ping of students for beyond university and to shift the narrative to view asking for help as effective self-management – ‘successful students ensure that they have the support they need’.
“To be really effective it’s important that libraries don’t set up initiatives which are separate from others that are already in place within their universities. It’s impor- tant to reach out to mental health services and work collaboratively with them. There is already a lot of interesting work taking place in libraries across the sector, so external networks can be really useful for sharing ideas and assessing which might work in your context. The M25 Con- sortium of Academic Libraries launched an initiative sharing approaches to wellbeing just before lockdown and the outputs are now available at
https://bit.ly/3FMePyb.
24 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL January-February 2022
Student in the Sheppard Library.
“It is extremely important that library staff understand how other support ser- vices within the university works and how to refer people to the right service. Library staff aren’t trained mental health profes- sionals and there are important issues of boundaries and roles. It is important to ensure students get the right support, but also to protect library staff.”
MDX Student App
Much of the work at Middlesex has revolved around support delivered directly through the institution, but there has also recently been work to look at what is already available elsewhere. These addi- tional services are incorporated into the student offer and Matthew says they have been well received. “At Middlesex, we have taken the approach of providing services and support which are predominantly designed and delivered in-house with an understanding of our student needs. With this foundation in place we have started to include external resources, such as Fika (an evidence based mental fitness app), which has proved popular with students since being included within the MDX student app.
“We have increased networks of support with NHS partners in recent years and established an affiliation with a local GP to ensure students have access to support according to their individual needs.”
Student Minds On a final note, Matthew provides insight into two other external services that enable students to connect with support in different ways. He says: “Increasingly we are also using technology to help us support students. Since 2014 we have developed a successful relationship with Kortext providing free personal eText- books to our students. Their partnership with Student Minds is a really positive develop ment; promoting both Middlesex and the Student Space mental health and wellbeing resource and support. “There are also instances where uni- versity services are not appropriate, for example regulatory reasons prevent our counsellors from supporting students studying abroad so we have partnered with Spectrum Life who provide expert support where the students are living and studying.” IP
Sheppard Library.
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