Article content
L’Université de Moncton will be expanding mental health services and resources to its three campuses through $83,000 in funding from Bell Let’s Talk.
Article content
UdeM said in a news release it was the only Atlantic university to have its proposal selected. The Bell Let’s Talk Post-Secondary Fund is donating $1 million to 11 Canadian post-secondary institutions in order to support initiatives that align with Canada’s national standard for mental health and well-being for post-secondary students.
The UdeM project consists of speeding up access to mental health care by reducing waiting times for consultation requests to their health and psychology service, adding human resources and modernizing mental health material resources, either through videos or new technology.
Another part of the project is to share mental health resources among the three campuses through the creation of mental health education video vignettes, and improving operational efficiency of the Peer Support Centre to expand its activities from the Moncton campus to the Edmundston and Shippagan campuses over the next two years.
It will also provide a bursary to a student coordinator at the Peer Support Centre.
Lisa Poirier, acting manager the health and psychology department at UdeM’s Moncton campus, said in the release the funding will help the university to make their project into a reality.
“The resources dedicated to strengthening the mental health of students on the three campuses of the Université de Moncton will be improved by this grant,” Poirier said.
FÉCUM said in a statement the main goal of the project was to extend the services being offered at the student peer support center – also known as CAPÉ – to students on both northern campuses of Université de Moncton.
Article content
“At the moment, students on UdeM’s northern campuses do not have immediate access to the mental health supports that we do have in Moncton, in the form of on-campus professionals,” said the student union in the statement.
With the funding the hope is to empower student leaders by providing the tools, the training, and any guidance they need to offer peer-based support. FÉCUM said in the statement there are students struggling to cope with their studies, and feelings of loneliness, stress, and anxiety.
“Our peer support team is also working to expand the services that we do have on offer now, and address any barriers that might keep students in need from accessing them,” said the student association. “This is also a great opportunity to add to what CAPÉ already does, and better know and meet our members’ needs and expectations.”
The project will happen with the help of campus psychologists who are keen to get involved in the initiative, the student union added in the statement.
“It is very much a team effort, because everyone here sees the potential to improve student life at UdeM,” said FÉCUM.
Lisa Poirier, acting manager of the UdeM Moncton campus Health and Psychology Department, said in a statement the funding will allow them to offer part-time and full-time work in the peer support centre in the form of bursaries and salaries.
When asked what mental health support students could access at UdeM, Poirier said there are meetings and coaching, mental health strategies and resources, references to mental health professionals, and wellness and awareness activities.
Currently, the health and psychology services on campus has a team of psychologists, doctors, a nurse, and a nurse practitioner.
The wait time to consult a psychologist varies depending on the time of year, level of urgency when their needs are triaged. Poirier said when waiting for an appointment with a psychologist several resources are proposed for the student depending on their needs.
Students are also shown available online resources that are available on the website for the school’s mental health and psychology website.
The videos, which will be produced through the Bell Let’s Talk funding will be created by a team made up of a psychologist and the students from the peer support centre using the technological resources on campus as well as a studio from the university’s technology department.
Share this article in your social network
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.