(303) Improving students’ stress management skills and access to counseling

Objective : Describe a college’s response to results from a student survey on well-being.

Methods: A survey was designed to obtain a baseline assessment of the overall well-being of students (Pharm.D. and Medical Laboratory Science). The survey asked a variety of quantitative and qualitative questions and was distributed via email. The quantitative questions measured the degree to which students agreed with a series of statements via a 7-point Likert scale.

Results: A total of 176 students responded to the survey. The response rate was 49% overall, with response rates for program/year as follows: MLS1 – 56.5%, MLS2 – 28.6%, P1 – 59.8%, P2 – 47.4%, P3 – 42.9%, P4 – 49.4%. Of note, 38.1% of the respondents did not agree with the statement “I adequately manage my stress” and 72.2% did not agree with “I feel comfortable approaching college faculty and staff with my mental health concerns.” A total of 71.6% of students agreed with the statement “I would attend counseling myself” but only 7.4% reported ever doing so. Qualitative comments identified long wait times for counseling services and difficulty accessing counseling when off-campus for experiential activities, as barriers to attending.

Conclusions: A significant portion of students do not feel like they adequately manage their stress and even a higher percentage do not feel comfortable approaching faculty and staff with mental health concerns. With barriers in place that make it difficult for students to access the counseling services provided by the university, this college felt the need to remove those barriers and offer more direct access.