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INTERNAL MEMORANDUM
Date: 15 May 2017
To: Senior Leadership Team
From: Adrienne Cleland, DVC(O) & Registrar
Prepared by: Kylie Ryan
Subject: 2017 Update on Wellbeing Portfolio
The ClockTower 22 Princes Street Auckland, New Zealand T +64 9 373 9953 ext 89953 E [email protected] W auckland.ac.nz The University of Auckland Private Bag 92019 Auckland 1142 New Zealand
Please find below an update on activities supporting student wellbeing.
Training
Training has continued across campus in both ‘Supporting Distressed Students’ and ‘Wellbeing for Students’. The ‘Supporting Distressed Students’ messaging has also been included in the family violence training delivered through the Equity Office to ensure that there is consistency of messaging across campus. We are currently considering including this training in the POD timetable, as we get a lot of requests from individual staff who have read the information on the online flow charts.
Supporting Distressed Students has been delivered to staff in the past three months as follows:
Accommodation x 2 FMHS Law Learning Leaders – Business & Economics School of Medicine Learning Support Services Creative Arts and Industries
This training has also been delivered to student mentors in:
Arts Science Law Medicine
Wellbeing workshops have been delivered to students in the following programmes:
Tertiary Foundation Course Unibound Education – MIT Law Business Engineering – Postgraduate Science Medicine
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Short wellbeing presentations were also included on Faculty Orientation Days for:
Arts Law Medicine Business Science Engineering
The ‘Supporting Distressed Students’ training was delivered as part of the family violence programme in:
Optometry POD
The wellbeing workshop has also been delivered for the POD Wellbeing at Work Series. This resulted in greater awareness of the upcoming programme, and also a number of bookings for the ‘Supporting Distressed Students’ training.
The wellbeing portfolio was also presented at the LINK Conference.
TWANZ
Kylie Ryan (Wellbeing Educator) is on the Executive Committee of the Tertiary Wellbeing Association New Zealand. She is leading a project that will catalogue wellbeing initiatives in tertiary institutions, producing a directory of professionals working this area, and considering professional development requirements.
The association has also published a report on best practice guidelines for using the Okanagan Charter within wellbeing programmes in New Zealand.
University Mental Health Day 2017
The theme for this was Stay Active, which fit nicely with our existing wellbeing prevention methods. Sport and Recreation hosted an open day. Kylie organised Mike King, New Zealand comedian and mental health advocate, to speak to students on campus. The aim of this was to have discussions about student mental health and normalise experiences of mental illness – encouraging students to seek help when required.
Faculties who are involved in the pilot of the wellbeing programme also organised their own activities on the day and throughout the week. We coincided the ‘Stay Active’ week of the programme with this day.
Wellbeing Programme
Kylie has been working closely with Law, Business, Arts and Science to pilot parts of the Wellbeing Programme that will be advertised and made available to all faculties in Semester Two. The outcome of these pilots has been that they are more successful when they are:
Faculty-led, by Student Support Advisors or equivalent. Overseen by a Student Wellbeing Advisory Group (or similar) in the faculty.
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We also found the best way to communicate the information to students is through workshops to existing groups i.e. orientation, lectures. Information is then best dispersed digitally to students throughout the semester. Please see attached Appendix 1 for an outline of the programme for Semester Two.
See Something, Say Something, Do Something
This campaign aims to normalise student experiences of anxiety and depression across campus, as well as increase awareness around the need to intervene and be an ethical bystander. Two videos are aimed at students and will be released via social media, and a third will be used to help train staff in ‘Supporting Distressed Students’.
‘See Something, Say Something, Do Something’ will be part of the Wellbeing Programme above.
Development of resources
A number of resources have been developed to accompany the Wellbeing Programme in Semester Two. Please see attached Appendix 2 for examples of graphic images that will be dispersed via email and social media to students.
Expert Advisory Groups
Kylie is starting to identify and meet with academics and professionals across campus who specialise in the areas that the Wellbeing bubble focuses on. In future, they will feed further research and expertise into how we communicate and deliver these messages. They will also look at project plans of what we need to do across campus to ensure that programmes, curriculum and products delivered are consistent with messages that are being delivered through the wellbeing portfolio.
The focus for the remainder of the year will be on expanding, refining and evaluating the Wellbeing Programme.
This programme is designed to be faculty and student-led. The most successful pilots of this programme were in faculties where Student Wellbeing Advisory Groups were formed to decide on what the pertinent issues were and had a big role in organising events to run alongside health promotion materials.
Ideally as a faculty you would choose two of the below weeks plus Mental Health Awareness week to focus on and run events for.
For the remaining weeks you will be provided with graphic skills-based information for students that can be emailed and displayed across your faculty.
For further information please contact the Wellbeing Educator, Kylie Ryan, on:
In addition to this programme we also run Supporting Distressed Students for staff, mentors, and student wellbeing advisory groups.
Week Date Theme 1 24 July Connect 2 31 July Take Notice 3 7 August Stay Active 4 14 August Be Mindful with Money 5 21 August Health Week – Faculty-led 6 28 August Faculty led focus
Mid-semester break 7 18 September Give Back 8 25 September Power Off 9 2 October Fuel Your Body 10 9 October Mental Health Awareness Week – National 11 16 October See Something, Say Something, Do Something 12 23 October Keep Learning
Wellbeing Programme Outline
Appendix 1
Connecting with other people is really important to our wellbeing. In a university environment it can be easy to become disconnected – you don’t have to engage with others for the majority of the time if you don’t choose to. However, connecting with others provides you with social
interaction, stress relief, support and a reason to take some time away from study. All of these factors are important to ensure we cope during highly stressful times.
Ideas for Connect Week:
Speed meeting
Take a PA system into an area where most of your students congregate. Set up two lines of chairs, or asking students to stand is fine. Using the microphone, ask students to form two lines and spend 15 seconds each introducing themselves to the person opposite them and then move down the line. Move the lines in opposite directions.
This takes 10 minutes in total and helps students overcome the anxiety barrier of talking to people they don’t know. Even students who watch this from the sidelines receive the message.
Meet and greet event
A lunch type event where the main point is to say hello and introduce yourself to others.
Google icebreaker games for ideas that could suit your faculty.
The aim of this week is to introduce the skills of mindfulness and gratitude to students and staff. There is a huge body of research that shows both a decrease in anxiety and an improvement in academic performance by practicing mindfulness and gratitude for just five minutes
per day.
Ideas for Take Notice:
Mindfulness groups
Run mindfulness across the faculty – either as separate sessions or at the end of lectures and tutorials.
The Smiling Minds App is highly recommended – it is free and was developed by Melbourne and Monash Universities for this purpose.
Contact the Wellbeing Educator and check their availability for running separate groups. Please note that these are not well-attended usually – it is far more effective to implement this as part of an event or lecture that students are already attending.
Appendix 1
Gratitude
Research shows that by writing down three things we are grateful for every day, we change the way the brain processes thoughts in relation to negativity and anxiety.
Run a social media campaign where students write down three things they are grateful for and post onto the faculty’s social media pages.
Research has consistently found that up to 30 minutes of exercise a day reduces depressive symptoms by up to 30%. Combine this with mindfulness and the rate increases to 40%. This is one of the few interventions that will result in immediate positive feelings due to the hormones that flood
the body following activity.
Ideas for Stay Active:
Engage with Sport and Recreation
Sport and Recreation can provide pop up classes in your faculty on request.
For further information please contact Kelly Davey: [email protected]
Walking groups
Organise and advertise walking groups throughout the week i.e. shops tour, park tour, faculty tour etc.
Stairs challenge
Are you in a faculty with lots of stairs? Run a ‘who can get up the stairs in the fastest time’ challenge, or a promotion that encourage students to use stairs instead of lifts.
What we put into our body has a direct effect on our energy levels, how our body functions, and our overall wellbeing.
This week focuses on educating and encouraging students to look at what they are putting into their body, and to be
mindful of the affect that has on their energy levels, and sleep.
This includes messages about drug and alcohol intake.
Ideas for Fuel Your Body:
Engage retailers
What retailers do you have in your faculty? Can they make foods that are known to increase energy and give our brains and bodies important nutrients more visible – perhaps by labelling them with the above logo?
Appendix 1
Would they be prepared to run promotions this week in line with this message?
Educational stand
Find an effective way to promote these messages to students. Contact the Wellbeing Educator for resources.
Random acts of kindness and giving back to others have been found to make us feel even happier than when we do nice things for ourselves. It also works to make people feel more connected to their faculty, and that people really do care about them, which can relieve symptoms of
anxiety and depression.
Ideas for Give Back:
Is there someone in need in your faculty?
Perhaps run a fundraising event and give the proceeds to someone who is currently experiencing difficulty and would benefit from some assistance.
Give back cards
Talk the Wellbeing Educator about getting cards made that will involve paying it forward – so by giving another student the card, they receive a gift of some sort, and then pay it forward to another student.
Getting adequate rest and sleep is vital to good wellbeing. If you’re not able to sleep, this is a big red flag that things aren't balanced for you at the moment.
This message also encourages students to take a break from study and technology and take some time to
practise other parts of the wellbeing bubble – like taking notice or connecting.
Ideas for Power Off
Chill out zone
Offer a space in your faculty where students can go to chill out, listen to music, play games and do something other than study.
Power Off envelopes
Contact the Wellbeing Educator about Power Off envelopes. These are envelopes that provide messaging around the importance of sleep and disengaging from technology. The idea is that the student puts their cell phone in the envelope and see how long they can refrain from looking at it. This can be a personal competition, or you could run a faculty competition to see who can achieve this for a certain amount of time on a regular basis.
Appendix 1
Lecturers may want to hand these out in class to see if students can make the hour without looking at their phone.
Cafes can also be engaged, and give them out to students as they buy coffee and get them to put their phones in the envelope and enjoy their coffee without looking at their phones.
This is messaging to students that things don’t always go as we want academically, but that does not mean that you need to stop learning – just that you might need to seek some help to improve in the future.
Ideas for Keep Learning
Get in the specialists
Contact Libraries and Learning Services to see if they are able to offer either workshops or resources for students.
Send out information about Student Support Advisors and their role within your faculty.
Offer a learning opportunity that is outside of what your faculty would normally offer
For example – a dance class, a language class, a guest lecturer from another faculty.
Financial stress can be a major factor in our daily wellbeing.
Teaching students how to budget and ensure they are receiving everything they are entitled to can make a
difference in managing the stress related to this.
Ideas for Be Mindful with Money
Invite the experts in
Approach budgeting support services to come into your faculty and provide information and guidance to students.
See if the banks on campus are able to offer your students any skills-based information.
Invite Student Job Search to set up a stand in your faculty and encourage students to look at part time work.
Faculty-led weeks
Health Week
Appendix 1
This is your chance to choose a health related issue outside of mental illness that you think is pertinent to your faculty – for either awareness or education purposes.
For example:
Sexual violence Sexual health Cancer awareness Flu vaccinations
Your Wellbeing Educator can help you access resources and organisations that can assist.
Faculty-led Week
Decide on the most pertinent part of the bubble to focus on for your faculty, and repeat messages and events.
The more the same messages are displayed, and events run, the more likely it is that people’s awareness of the issue is raised and interventions will have ongoing positive outcomes.
So don’t be afraid to repeat one of the other weeks in the programme.
Mental Health Awareness Week
This is a nationally celebrated week, and a number of events will be happening across campus which incorporate all parts of the wellbeing programme.
Decide how you would like to celebrate and promote this week within your faculty.
Resources will be available through the Wellbeing Educator.
See something, say something, do something
This week focuses on the normalisation of mental illness within the University setting, particularly around depression and anxiety. It then involves teaching skills around how to be ethical bystanders and how to notice and intervene when other students aren’t doing so well.
A social media campaign accompanies this week that you can access for your faculty as well as running campus-wide.
Talk to the Wellbeing Educator if you would like to run events that encourage people to intervene over this week.
Appendix 1
I look forward to working with your faculty and students to ensure consistency of wellbeing messages that are
based on best practice research in regards to the prevention of mental illness, and supporting students
through highly stressful times.
For any questions or queries:
Kylie Ryan
Ph: 021 30 11 22
Appendix 1
Wellbeingat the University of Auckland
www.auckland.ac.nz/wellbeing
Preparing a budget is the number one way to keep on top of things and know where you are at financially week to week.
Visit www.sorted.org.nz for some great budgeting apps and resources.
To reduce financial
stress while studying:
Ensure you are receiving all the financial assistance you are entitled to as a student.1.
Budgeting and Financial resources
Make a budget and try to stick to it!2.Look for a job that allows you to earn while still meeting your study requirements.3.If financial issues are causing you major stress – talk to someone. The counsellors at University Health and Counselling Services will be able to talk with you about managing the associated stress and putting a plan in place.
4.
Talk to AUSA Student Support Hub Advisors and utilise the services they offer in regards to budgeting and financial assistance.
5.
www.sorted.org.nz
http://www.ausa.auckland.ac.nz/support/student-advice-hub/
https://www.studylink.govt.nz
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/on-campus/student-support/personal-support/student-health-counselling/wellbeing/mindful-with-money.html
$
Appendix 2
A sense of social connection is one of our fundamental human needs
Wellbeingat the University of Auckland
During your time at the University of Auckland it can be easy when things get tough to become isolated from others. We know from experience and research that making an effort to connect with others has an immediate impact on your wellbeing and can make your University journey a little bit easier.
Benefits of connecting with others
Increased happinessStudies show that the key difference between very happy people and less happy people is good relationships.
1.
Better healthStrong social connections lead to:• A 50% increased chance of longevity• Stronger immune system• Lower rate of anxiety and depression• Increased self esteem
2.
Support when you need itBy building our connections we have more support to fall back on when life gets tough – making your day a little bit easier.
3.How to build your connections
It can be really hard to pluck up the courage to connect with new people and things. But it is well worth making the effort – particularly if you are finding life difficult right now.
Join a club or society
Check out the
Health and Counselling
service
Find out what events are coming
up on campus
Get involved in
a mentoring programme
Join a study group
Introduce yourself
to people around you
Finding it hard to connect with others?
Get support from one of our Wellbeing Groups
HERE
www.auckland.ac.nz/wellbeing
Appendix 2
Wellbeingat the University of Auckland
www.auckland.ac.nz/wellbeing
Take time to take notice of what is happening in your world, accept and acknowledge the good and the bad, and be grateful for the small things.
Benefits of Taking
Notice
Practising mindfulness on a daily basis has been shown to improve:• Both psychological and physiological
symptoms of stress• Symptoms of anxiety• Sleep quality• Working memory, executive functions and
process of visual information• Relationships
1.
How to include mindfulness and gratitude into your day
Download the Smiling Minds app for daily
practices
Keep a gratitude journal, just three things
you’re grateful for a day
Take time to sit and take
notice of what is happening around you
Go and sit somewhere
beautiful and just be in the
moment
Join one of our mindfulness
wellbeing groups
Breathe deeply every
day
Get support from one of our Wellbeing Groups
HERE
Practising gratitude on a daily basis has been shown to improve:• Resiliency and your ability to cope with
stressful situations• Relationships and friendships• Sleep, energy and longevity• Self-esteem and optimism
2.
Appendix 2
