The Improving Student Mental Health through Partnerships Project was established in recognition of the fact that many young people struggle with their mental health during their university studies.
As part of the initiative, a team of University of Liverpool students were employed to create digital content. The team, known as Minds Matter Liverpool, brought together a diverse group of students to utilise their unique perspectives and encourage the co-production of content.
The Minds Matter Liverpool team have focussed their work on issues such as anxiety, depression, managing finances, and supporting marginalised groups of people. They have also been keen to prioritise inclusivity in everything that they have done. You may have noticed the Wellbeing Walls in the libraries on campus, designed by the team.
They have also been involved in developing a new Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) training module that is specifically aimed at university students and individuals who work with this age group.
The students provided feedback on the scripts and different scenarios to ensure they were relatable to students and resembled a university setting, as well as providing voice recordings and photographs used within the online module.
The students involved found the project to be very rewarding and have provided the following feedback:
Nujhat said: “Working with the Zero Suicide Alliance has been an invaluable experience. The voice-over acting role was definitely a unique experience. Although it seemed scary at first, once we started doing our parts, we were really able to delve into our characters and enjoy every moment of it.”
“It definitely makes me happy knowing we are able to reach so many students across the UK that will benefit from this project. I would definitely encourage anyone struggling with mental health to reach out and seek help whenever and wherever possible. You are not alone in this, you are wanted and loved and you deserve to be helped.”
Robyn said: “I love that they have asked us, a group of current students at university, to be involved with developing training to help those in our age group. Asking us for feedback on scripts and using it to make the training better has been great, and getting involved in the creation of modules through the production period was a great experience.”
Beth said: “My favourite part was being consulted on the script and scenarios which were used in the module. Being able to use our own personal experiences of mental health and student life was crucial to our review and feedback. From the ideas for scenarios to the final script, ZSA took on board all of our contributions and truly made us a part of the process. It has been a brilliant experience and I thank the ZSA for bringing us on board!”
The Improving Student Mental Health through Partnerships Project is an Office for Students funded partnership between University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, The Innovation Agency, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Brownlow Health and the respective student unions.
Students can complete the ZSA module through Canvas – click here to find out more.