Evaluating Undergraduate Student Awareness and Usage of Mental Health Services at UBC
Creators: name: Gill, Taj
name: Mahal, Josh
name: Zmetana, Chelsea
name: Badesha, Shawn
name: Dong, Jason
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2022

description: In recent years, the mental health of Canadian post-secondary students has been a popular subject matter of discussion due to concerns about trends of increasing student mental health issues (Porter, 2018). According to the UBC Wellbeing Annual report for 2020/2021, only 34% of undergraduate students reported being aware of online or in-person resources (UBC Wellbeing, 2021). That being said, the purpose of the study was to assess undergraduate students’ awareness of UBC mental health services and any barriers and facilitators to access. This study used an online 22-question qualtrics survey to collect data from the target population, UBC undergraduate students. Participants were recruited via convenience sampling through social media, and virtual messaging of contacts. Both open and closed-ended questions were used in the survey and were analyzed using descriptive qualitative analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. The survey obtained 41 responses but accounting for the inclusion criteria, only 39 responses were analyzed. This sample included 19 females and 20 males with an age range of 19-28 years old, and an average age of 21 years old. The sample was predominantly third and fourth-year students. In regard to results, only 18% of students declared having used UBC mental health services before. Overall, student awareness of the various mental health services at UBC was low, as 63% had never heard of the services before and 22% had only heard of the names. The most well-known service was UBC Counseling. Awareness levels were then analyzed based on several stratifications including gender, ethnicity, year of study level, and proximity to campus. There was no statistically significant difference between the awareness levels of different genders. Based on the year of study, first-year students surveyed had the lowest awareness of the services offered, whereas third and fourth years had the greatest awareness. Based on ethnicity, Chinese students had the greatest awareness, followed by Southeast Asians, then White. Lastly, individuals living on-campus had a greater awareness of mental health services compared to individuals who lived off-campus. Students mainly heard about services through social media, flyers, word of mouth, professors, and websites. The main chosen facilitators for access to services were an increase in knowledge, lower wait times, and lower cost. The most identified barriers to access were not knowing how or where to start, long wait times, limited free time, and cost. Based on the study's findings, there are several recommendations for UBC Equity &amp; Inclusion and the mental health services. Firstly, working on promoting information about services, their locations on campus, the AMS/GSS student health benefits, and steps to utilizing services through social media, websites, flyers and professors. This is due to a general lack of knowledge as well as the cost being a major barrier reported by respondents. Secondly, we would recommend increasing the number of counselors, specifically those of different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities to reduce wait times and address diversity needs. Thirdly, emphasizing the quiz on the website that is used to direct users to appropriate resources by moving it higher up on the webpage and labeling it as a quiz. Lastly, we would recommend continued research done campus-wide on student awareness, perception, and access to mental health services. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”