This Interactive essay is a way of sharing our findings from research regarding the mental health services available at Lancaster University for Chinese speaking students. Based on information from the Lancaster University Website. There are currently over 1000 Chinese students in Lancaster university and almost 2500 international students studying at the university. But what mental health services are available for Chinese speaking students? Below is a list of services offered to students (specifically in Lancaster), by clicking on each service is a list of information regarding our research focusing on what mental health services are offered to Chinese students studying in Lancaster.
[[LU 'THE BASE']]
[[LU 'College wellbeing Officers]]
[[LU Mental Health Society]]
This is correct. The Counselling and Mental Health Service at Lancaster University is the same for all students meaning there is nothing at The Base at least, offered in a language other than English. That isn't to say that Chinese speaking students can't visit this service. This may mean however that it is hard to gain the same amount of help and advice as English students. By clicking below you can find out what is offered at the base.
[[The Base]]
This is incorrect. Despite the vast number of international students studying at the university, there are no separate services for international students. This study focuses primarily on Chinese students but that is not to say this is any different for other international students.
Find out what the Base offers by clicking below.
[[The Base]]
The Base is one of the main ports of call for students in need of counselling or mental health services. They offer 30 minutes to students who book 24 hours in advance. For more immediate help, students can go to drop in sessions in term time which run for two, one-hour slots of the day. This is said to be for students in need of emergency help and guidance. Located in the centre of the university campus, it is accessible for students nearby in need of help and the self-referral service seems like an easy and innovative way for students to be able to make steps to help themselves and gain the help they need. This being said, these services are the same for ALL students and so the help of one student may not be the same for another due to factors such as language barriers and cultural differences.
[[findings and conclusions]]At Lancaster University, we found online that 'The Base' is the primary location to go to when in need of counselling. We asked the question, "What are the mental health service available to international students?" What do you think was the answer to the question?
[["The mental health services are the same for both British and International Students, there is no specific help for international students"]]
[["There are multiple services available for international students as well as British Students."]]
Each college has a Wellbeing officer. Is this true or false?
[[true]]
[[false]]The LU Mental Health Society is a mental health serivce as they are licensed and trained professionals. Do you think this true or False?
[[True]]
[[False]]It is actually false. The LU mental health society can't provide anything they would call a service as thet are not licensed or trained professionals. Click below to find out more about this society.
[[Mental Health Society]]Yes! It is false, the society can't provide what they would call a service as they are not licensed professionals. To find out more click below.
[[Mental Health Society]] The LU Mental Health Society is a student run society and the "society functions as a place for people with mental health issues to meet each other, for friends to support each other" according to the society President whom agreed to be used as a source and quoted for the purpose of this research. By raising awareness by campaigning for issues and fundraising and organising alcohol-free socials the society is able to create a support network for students struggling with their mental health.
This service is offered to all students, however the society are aware of the lack of mental health services available for Chinese students at the university which is also recognised as a major problem due to the severity of mental health issues felt by Chinese students and it is something the society knows needs to be tackled. The main issue that the society has faced is that they haven't wanted to tackle the issue from a "uniformed Western Perspective" and as a result have not tried to tackle the issues amongst these students.
The Mental Health society at Lancaster University appears to positively impact the students involved and also those in need of help and as a student run society may be much more accessible and less daunting than some of the other services available to students. Despite being an available society to join for all students, the president of the LU Mental health society did say that it the university services are not offered in Mandarin as far as he was aware and neither is the society which could be intimidating or unapproachable for these students for whom English is not their first language.
[[findings and conclusions]]
Yes! It is true. To find out more information about the college wellbeing officers at Lancaster University, click below.
[[LU College Wellbeing Officers]]Incorrect. Each college does have it's own wellbeing officer To find out more information about the college wellbeing officers at Lancaster University, click below.
[[LU College Wellbeing Officers]]According to the university website, each college within Lancaster University has a wellbeing officer who is part of the counselling and mental health service department within the University. These Officers offer counselling offer low-level Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) based support designed to help students. While this service would be helpful for students in need of mental health support, counselling is a talking based method of help and so is likely to be more beneficial to students with English as their first language and so for those international students in need of mental health help, this service may be a little daunting to them and so they may not seek the help they need from this service.
[[findings and conclusions]]
In conducting this report, there is no denying that there are a range of services and support systems that students at Lancaster University can access if they need help regarding their mental health. However, it does raise the question of how beneficial these services are if a student’s first language is not English. When focusing mainly on the Chinese students studying at university, it became clear that there are four main factors which contribute to negatively impacting their mental health: study pressure, home sickness, cultural difference and peer pressure. Although the services available at the university may be able to help with some of these anxieties and worries, the approachability of these services may be low due to cultural differences and language barriers. For the Mental Health society at Lancaster, they seem to be aware of the necessity for a service or society available to international students to ensure that every student has access to the help that they need.