(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Alison Sandstrom

Call for help

Universities using technology to deliver mental health services

Aug 30, 2019 | 9:44 AM

Students at University of Regina will have a new tool to help them deal with mental health concerns as they head back to school next week.

A new text crisis line will connect students who message in with a trained volunteer who can also refer them to on-campus resources if needed. The project, which is a partnership between the U of R, Kids Help Phone and The Co-operators, isn’t the only one using technology to deliver mental health supports to post-secondary students in the province. The University of Saskatchewan has had its own phoned-based system since last year.

New challenges

According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, 75 per cent of mental health diagnoses occur between the ages of 16 and 24. Among the same age group, suicide accounts around one in four deaths.

“I think there’s no question that the world is a more complex, competitive place than it was even ten years ago,” Director of Student Affairs and Services Peter Hedley told paNOW. “There’s a lot more uncertainty for students and I think that’s the root of a lot of things.”

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Hedley cited an increase in mature students who may have to balance caring for children on top of their education, as well as more students working during their studies, as contributing to increasingly complex mental health concerns on campus.

The situation in Prince Albert

For the approximately 300 U of S students who study in Prince Albert, geography can also be a barrier to accessing services, and it was partly for them that the U of S introduced 24/7 support over the phone.

Since last year, the university has been contracting the company ComPsych to answer students’ calls and direct them to mental health support. ComPsych also offers students information on a variety of other topics including taxes, budgeting, nutrition, legal guidance and finding childcare.

The university doesn’t have mental health counsellors on the Prince Albert campus. But students have the option to access mental health professionals over the phone, through Skype or see a CompPsych contracted clinician in the area.

“Sometimes people want to see someone in-person and sometimes people don’t want to, and that makes sense too. So, we use technology to access [counselling] in a convenient way,” Hedley said.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic focuses more traditional supports, with four counsellors on the Prince Albert campus, but they too could soon be adding new technologies in their mental health strategy.

“We’re definitely looking at other options because it’s not always easy to communicate just in-person,” director of health, counselling and accessibility Debra Kemp-Koo said.

Looking forward

In preparation for the opening of the new Prince Albert campus next fall, U of S is in talks about what shape mental health services will take with a dramatic increase of students scheduled to arrive in the city in 2020.

“For us it’s not actually just about having a counsellor in the building and that’s hence the reason for our partnership with CompPsych,” Hedley said. “We have providers in the community already. So, is it actually the best use of resources to duplicate that when we know we can have them connected?”

He says he’s open to integrating more technology like a text line into their mental health strategy, but it would have to be backed up by strong evidence that students find it effective.

The president of the U of S student union agrees that students should be the ones with the control in discussions about their mental health services.

“Folks need to hear from the experts, and when it comes to student mental health, students are the best people to obtain that information from,” said Regan Ratt-Misponas.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom