An Occupation Based Service for Third Level Students with
Significant Mental Health Issues
Clodagh Nolan M.Sc., M.A., Pg.Dip. Stats., Dip.C.O.T.
Siobhan MacCobb Ph.D., M.Sc., M.A., Dip. C.O.T.
University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland.
Introduction
Methods
The number of students in Higher Education within
Ireland with a disability has steadily risen from 450
in 1998 to over 3,500 today with approximately 8%
of these considered to have a mental health
difficulty1. In 2003 the Discipline of Occupational
Therapy together with the Disability Service in
Trinity College set up an Occupation Based Service
to cater for the needs of these students. This
service is entitled ‘UNILINK’ (an acronym for
making ‘university links’) Unilink is now in its fifth
year and continues to support one hundred and fifty
students with significant mental health difficulties.
In 2003 the Royal College of Psychiatrists
suggested ‘that those with mental health problems
needed higher support in order to achieve their
potential’2. Unilink endeavours to meet this need by
providing an accessible client centred service.
A quantitative analysis of data from 2004-2009 using
SPSS was used to describe the referrals patterns,
uptake of the service and outcomes from the ‘Trinity
Student Profile’ (TSP): an assessment specifically
designed to capture the difficulties and areas that are
important to work upon within the service.
Qualitative methods include interviews with students
which were taped an analysed using NVIVO 7 to
provide a subjective perspective.
1.AHEAD (2008) Participation Rates of Students with Disabilities in Higher
Education 2005/6, AHEAD Publication Press. Dublin.
2. Royal College of Psychiatrists (2003). The Mental Health of Students in
Higher Education. Council Report CR112. Available online at www.rcpsych.as.uk
3. Christiansen C., & Baum C (1997) Person-environment- occupational
performance: A conceptual model for practice. In C. Christiansen & Baum (Eds.)
Enabling function and well-being (2nd ed.pp.49-70) Thorofare, NJ: SLACK
Incorporated.
4. World Health Organisation (2001) International Classification of functioning
and disability and health (ICF) Geneva, Switzerland. World Health Organisation.
Aim
The aim of the Unilink Service is to enable students
with mental health difficulties to develop practical
self-management strategies that assist them in the
completion of their college tasks and their
integration into college life.
This poster presents the model of service provision,
the usage and outcomes of the service.
Model of Service Provision
The Discipline of Occupational Therapy in
collaboration with the Disability Service in Trinity
College developed a ‘practical occupation
focused’ approach to supporting students. This
approach centres upon the role of the student
within a university environment, using the Person
Environment Occupation Model3. The marrying of
the disability perspective with an occupation
focus enables the therapist to put the person, in
this case ‘the student’ at the centre of its planning
an intervention and includes ‘doing tasks’ with the
individual until confidence and skills have
adequately grown. This reflects the WHO
directive on enhancing participation and quality of
life for those with enduring mental health issues 4.
This research has ethical approval from the University
of Dublin Health Science Faculty Research Ethics
Committee.
Results/Outcomes
Quantitative
Interviews - Qualitative
Student’s found that the service ‘was very useful and in
referring to the therapist a female student with Depression
said:
‘She is very good with helping with the structure of the
project an she understand everything even thought its
mathematical and engineering. 24th April 07
Another female student with depression said ‘Yes I am
very happy with it…I had so much more structure on
my year this year and that is very important for me..’
24th April 07
‘Yes it has been good just in terms of learning
strategies and coping with the course…all the really
simple and obvious things like how to plan and
organise my work.. Male student with Dual Diagnosis of
Depression and Alcohol Abuse. 2nd May 07
“I passed my exams; Unilink had me very prepared and
organised for them. I graduated with a 2nd class
honours degree. Quite an achievement given all of the
difficulties that I had to contend with.” Male Student
with Attention Deficit Disorder 15th July 2009
Discussion
Over 200 students have accessed and utilized the Unilink
Mental Health Service since 2003. More men than women
use the service. This can be attributed to the fact that in
recent years more students with Asperger’s Syndrome and
ADD/ADHD have entered the University with a rate of
approximately 10 a year. New programmes are being
developed to cater to the needs of these groups of men
and includes such supports as management of workloads,
time management environmental accommodations based
upon sensory integration theory, ADD/ADHD education and
self management.
The goals set by students to work upon in the service
differed to the reasons students were referred to the
service, which is to be expected, as given the nature of
mental health difficulties issues would emerge during the
course of therapy. The most common goal was working
around issues related to their role as a student, eg.
meeting deadlines and completing academic work.
Interventions and support offered were both flexible and
individual to the students occupational needs. Students
were encouraged to develop self management strategies
which centred on the management of the impact of their
mental health issues on their student role.
This collaborative service has proven to be a worthwhile
and effective contribution to the university environment and
student participation and engagement.