Is the library
undertaking any activities to support student mental health and well-being
during the CV-19 pandemic?
46/59 (78%) said
“yes”. The following data relates to these 46 replies.
What kinds of
activities are being specifically offered by the library to support student
mental health and well-being during the CV-19 pandemic? Online learning
materials, emphasising digital support on web site, reassuring messages, suspension
of fines, linking to Uni well-being related services
|
Giving students access to additional learning materials online |
41 |
89% |
|
Reorganising website to emphasise digital support options |
39 |
85% |
|
Reassuring messages via social media |
39 |
85% |
|
Suspension of fines |
38 |
83% |
|
Linking to home university well-being related services |
34 |
74% |
|
Recommending leisure reading and content streaming sources |
30 |
65% |
|
Listing remotely-available well-being related books |
27 |
59% |
|
Highlighting lighthearted and/or distracting content via social
media |
24 |
52% |
|
Offering webinars on other topics students are concerned about
e.g. accessing resources remotely |
21 |
46% |
|
Additional FAQ related to well-being |
11 |
24% |
|
Offering webinars on well-being related topics |
7 |
15% |
|
N=46 |
|
|
What communication channels and/or formats is the library using to communicate mental health and well-being related content? The library web site and Twitter
|
Library web site |
37 |
80% |
|
Twitter |
36 |
78% |
|
Facebook |
27 |
59% |
|
Instagram |
23 |
50% |
|
Online video calling software (e.g. skype, teams etc) |
20 |
43% |
|
Email |
18 |
39% |
|
Weibo |
0 |
0% |
“Others” included the
library blog, libguides and newsletters.
Which populations are
you aiming to support with your mental health and well-being activities? Primarily
taught students.
|
Undergraduates |
45 |
98% |
|
Postgraduate (taught) |
45 |
98% |
|
PhD students |
40 |
87% |
|
Academic staff |
34 |
74% |
|
Professional and
allied staff |
30 |
65% |
|
Contract researchers |
23 |
50% |
Which populations are
engaging with the library’s mental health and well-being activities? Taught students
|
Undergraduates |
17 |
37% |
|
Postgraduate (taught) |
14 |
30% |
|
PhD students |
11 |
24% |
|
Academic staff |
9 |
20% |
|
Professional and allied
staff |
8 |
17% |
|
Contract researchers |
0 |
0% |
|
Cannot specify
particular groups but evidence of engagement |
28 |
61% |
|
No evidence of
engagement |
3 |
7% |
How is the success of these activities being evaluated? Thank you messages, resource accesses and retweets/favouriting
|
Thank you messages
received from students/staff |
20 |
43% |
|
Number of people
accessing recommended resources |
20 |
43% |
|
Retweets/ favourites
of content |
19 |
41% |
|
Number of messages
distributed/ broadcast |
13 |
28% |
|
Number of people
attending webinars |
13 |
28% |
|
We do not evaluate
our well-being activities |
13 |
28% |
|
Increased frequency/ same focus |
6 |
16% |
|
Increased/ different focus |
8 |
21% |
|
Decreased/different focus |
13 |
34% |
|
Decreased/ same |
7 |
18% |
|
Same |
4 |
11% |
Open text comments
suggest shift of focus is towards access to electronic resources.
How would you define
the problem you’re trying to address? Student
concerns about study and access to resources, and also building a campus
community and loneliness during social distancing
|
Student concerns
about study/ access to resources |
42 |
91% |
|
Building sense of
university community |
30 |
65% |
|
Loneliness during
self isolation / social distancing |
27 |
59% |
|
General anxiety and
depression |
22 |
48% |
|
Digital well-being as
an aspect of digital skills |
18 |
39% |
|
Boredom |
14 |
30% |
|
Misinformation about
the virus/fake news |
10 |
22% |
|
Stigma around mental
health |
9 |
20% |
|
Worries about coming
out of lockdown |
8 |
17% |
|
Health concerns about
the virus |
6 |
13% |
|
Prejudice towards
some groups of students, e.g. Chinese students |
4 |
9% |
What was the main
reason you decided to prioritise mental health and well-being related
activities at this time? Aligning to the institution
|
We have taken the initiative to align with university strategy |
15 |
36% |
|
We are formally coordinating with university strategy |
9 |
21% |
|
We are responding to student demand/ concerns |
8 |
19% |
|
Other |
8 |
19% |
|
We have seen other libraries undertaking similar activity |
2 |
5% |
|
N=42 |
Note: The question
required respondents to pick one choice, when they may well have had a mix of
drivers.
Do you have any other
comments about library involvement in student mental health and well-being
during the crisis?
Comment: Responses reflect diverse practices: some people see mental
health and well-being as a core activity, some confine the role to signposting.
In other cases resources have not been available, reflecting the pressure
libraries are under in the crisis. Library staff well-being is a related topic.
“As a third space, Library should take the opportunity to get
involved mental health initiatives and help drive the agenda”
“As previously mentioned we are mainly a referral route for
student mental health and well being our focus is more on teaching and learning
support plus signposting.”
“We took the decision to prioritise wellbeing activity and re-established a working group which had been active previously however it has disbanded due to workload pressures “
“We have also focused
on the mental health and wellbeing of library staff […]”
Comments