A whole university approach to mental health: use cases for student mental health profiling

Abstract

Using data for early, personalised and proactive engagement regarding student mental health is prominent in UK Higher Education (HE) policy. This study investigates how student mental health profiling (SMHP) can be incorporated into services. Profiles were presented to members of a university mental health team (n=7) via semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed to explore staff perceptions of using profiles in practice. This generated a set of use cases and a discussion on the conditions required to operationalise them. The use cases identify both operational and strategic opportunities for delivering interventions as well as monitoring and evaluating services. Use cases are important for articulating in actionable terms how a whole university approach to mental health may be achieved. The paper aims to inform practitioners looking to use profiles, universities wishing to invest in mental health analytics and policymakers considering how best to support institutions in delivering data-driven support consistently and ethically.