December 22, 2022
In 2020, the McCall MacBain Foundation started granting in youth well-being and mental health. Having worked for over a decade on youth leadership and growth opportunities for high school and university students, we were well aware of growing concerns around youth mental health, and we felt that granting in this area would complement the work we already do with youth.
Of course, the pandemic has exacerbated the challenges young people are experiencing. Demand – and wait times – for counselling and medical supports have skyrocketed. While these interventions certainly have a role to play, they are expensive, difficult to scale, and don’t always address the root causes of poor well-being and mental health.
What are some of those key root causes? The literature, and our conversations with university partners, identify a number of them:
- Academic stress due to pandemic-related disruptions to education and lack of academic preparedness;
- Financial strain, further exacerbated by recent increases in the cost of living;
- Social isolation, particularly when classes have been offered online, but even when in-person activities have resumed, as students lack confidence after having not participated in social settings for an extended period;
- Hopelessness and overwhelm when students consider the vast challenges in the world, including climate change, growing inequality, and growing polarization.
Our work on youth leadership development helps counteract some of that hopelessness by empowering youth to work in tangible ways on the issues that worry them most (for example, through the work of Neighbours United). And, over the last two years we’ve also started to work with university partners through their Student Offices on initiatives that address the root causes of academic stress, social isolation, and financial strain. For example, two programs we’re excited about at Dalhousie and Concordia University focus in particular on students transitioning into university:
Together@Dal is a program designed to help incoming Dalhousie students build relationships and skills so they can better navigate their first year on campus. Students have access to a variety of workshops, social events, and peer mentorship from upper year students. A recent review of the program’s impact reveals that participants feel a stronger sense of belonging, are retained at a higher rate, and score higher GPAs than non-participants, highlighting the role that student experience initiatives can play in supporting student well-being.
Homeroom at Concordia University helps students to make friends, navigate the student experience, and co-develop new skills. Similar to Together@Dal, Homeroom is an initiative developed primarily for new undergraduate students to facilitate their transition into university. Students are placed into cohorts of approximately 15 students and meet virtually on a weekly basis for sessions facilitated by upper year peer mentors around a range of topics curated by the Dean of Students Office. Students also come together for in-person activities. Early findings suggest that combining virtual and in-person engagements increase participation in both.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, both programs have also seen very positive results for the upper year peer mentors, who gain access to training, a fulfilling work opportunity, and a paid job that they can do alongside their studies. Both programs are undertaking ongoing evaluation of their programs to address questions like: who does this program serve well, and who are we missing? How are the needs of students changing as the pandemic evolves? What are the linkages between sense of belonging, academic success, and retention? And, what are the highest impact aspects of the program?
We look forward to supporting these learnings, and to learning from other institutions experimenting with initiatives that support student experience and address root causes of low well-being and mental health issues across Canada.