Student mental health the focus of new peer support programme

A new peer support programme is being developed at UCL to support the mental health of our students, in a collaborative project involving academics, students, NHS and community partners. The TRANSACT (Translating Insights into Action) programme, led by UCL Psychology & Language Sciences (UCL PALS) academics and involving UCLPartners, Students' Union UCL, Camden Local Authority and London Higher, has received funding this week from the UK's Office for Students, as part of a £6 million funding package for university student mental health across the country. The new initiative forms part of UCL PALS' PsychUP for Wellbeing (Psychology Informing University Practices for Wellbeing) programme, which was set up to improve mental health in universities by developing the knowledge base, designing models of care and supporting partnerships working between university and NHS services, to simplify access to vital support services. Development of TRANSACT is being informed by a recent peer research project which showed that different groups of students experience different structural and social barriers to accessing mental health support; three groups identified as being at particular risk are young women, BAME and international students. The project also developed potential solutions, with one overarching theme being that students would value more peer support. The programme is guided by the principle that support should be led by the student community, rather than being imposed 'top down' by universities.