Student Mental Health & Well-being Framework

Intent

This framework outlines Health & Counselling Services (HCS) ongoing commitment to advancing student mental health, health equity and well-being in partnership with others across the institution. It is used internally in HCS as a guide and planning document and to communicate our aspirations to collaborators.  It can be used by others in the university as a planning tool and reference to relevant mental health efforts and as an invitation to collaboration. To the best of our ability, we have aligned this with organizational goals and commitments.

Alignment

The framework is guided by:

• National Standard for Post-secondary Mental Health & Well-being (2020)
• The Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges (2015)
• What’s Next: the SFU Strategy (2023)
• SFU Long Range Strategic Enrollment Plan (2021-2026)
• SFU’s Equity Compass (2023)
• SFU’s Academic Plan (2019-2024)
• The Scarborough Charter (2020)
• Walk this Path with Us Report (2017) and SFU’s commitments to Reconciliation and Decolonization.
• Research projects from SFU Health Promotion and SFU Institutional Research and Planning
• SFU Undergraduate Student Survey (UGSS) data (2013-2022)
• SFU’s People Plan
• Canadian Campus Wellbeing Survey (2020, 2023)

In March 2023, SFU launched What’s Next: the SFU Strategy that will guide our collective work over the coming years. This strategy emphasizes the need to “focus on the well-being of all those who learn and work at SFU, mindful of preparing students for an uncertain and complex world.”  - SFU What’s Next: The SFU Strategy, p 6.

The Student Mental Health & Well-being Framework outlines an evidence informed strategy to enhance student mental health and well-being at SFU in alignment with this strategic plan. By creating cultures, systems, curriculum, programs and service enhancements that prioritize mental health we are directly contributing to the actions outlined in the strategy related to Transforming the SFU Experience. The framework is being advanced alongside SFU’s People Plan which includes a focus on staff and faculty well-being, thus ensuring a whole campus approach to well-being can be collaboratively realized. 

Guiding Principles

• Cultures of care: We work collectively to create cultures of care through which genuine and meaningful relationships are built and environments of respect, reciprocity, compassion, flexibility, connection, equity and belonging support student well-being. 

• Holistic conceptualizations of health and well-being: We create space for learning with and from knowledge-informed, culturally inclusive practices that encompass various experiences, perspectives, identities, and understandings of health & well-being. 

• Student voice: We hold students’ needs and goals at the heart of our decision making and center student voice in the design of programs and initiatives. 

• Systemic action: Comprehensive and systemic action is needed to embed well-being across the institution, including individual and organizational levels and the academic mandate.  

• Building on strengths: An asset-based approach seeks and expands exemplary actions and activities that are creating conditions for well-being, while highlighting and celebrating shared progress. 

• Equity and justice: Principles of social justice, accessibility, cultural safety and equity are woven in all health promotion action to help reduce health disparities and contribute to justice. We approach our work through anti-oppressive, anti-racist, trauma-informed, healing-centered and socio-ecological lenses.  

• Decolonization, reconciliation and Indigenization: We are committed to advancing reconciliation, decolonization and Indigenization through our practices and programs. We acknowledge that we operate within a colonial institution and system that cause substantial harm to Indigenous peoples. We acknowledge the responsibility we each have individually and collectively to advance decolonization, equity and justice. 

• Evidence-informed and reflexive practice: We are committed to continual learning, reflexive practice, innovation and growth. Diverse research, evidence, evaluation, lived experience, and various sources of knowledge are drawn upon to inform strategies.   

• Ecological and social sustainability: We recognize that the health and well-being of communities, living beings, and the planet are interconnected. The One Health approach is reflected in all health promotion activities, and we take seriously our individual and collective responsibility to our communities and planet.   

Action Framework 

This action framework helps to explain the key commitments needed to address student mental health and well-being and outlines the overlapping action areas through which initiatives and opportunities to enhance student well-being can be viewed.  

Commitments

The following six commitments outline the strategic action areas through which we will achieve our goal of advancing student mental health, health equity and well-being at SFU. These align with recommendations from the National Standard for Post-Secondary Student Mental Health & Well-being, and the following audit tool was used in accessing current needs at SFU. 

An overview of current programming lead by HCS under each commitment is outlined below. 

Policies & Organizational Systems

We strive to have diverse perspectives on well-being and mental health inform and shape the policies, processes and organizational structures that impact student well-being. This includes a commitment to ensuring a well-being lens is applied in the development of new policies, processes and structures across the institution. 

• Well-being through SFU Policy - Guide to Action

Creating Physical Spaces for Well-being

We are committed to working collectively with Facilities Services, the Campus Vibrancy Project and other partners to develop physical spaces on campus that support student well-being, inclusion and thriving. 

• Well-being through Physical Spaces - Principles & Guide to Action

Embedding Well-being in Learning Environments

Building upon substantial successes, we will work collaboratively with academic units, faculty members, TAs, Centre for Educational Excellence and TILT to embed a focus on well-being within learning environments at SFU, so that students experience mental health and well- being within their academic programs and learning experiences.

• Well-being in Learning Environments Resource Library
• Tools for Well-being in the Classroom
• Faculty Response Guide for Supporting Students in Distress (partnership with SSRR)
• Thriving in Your Role as a TA online training open to all graduate students/TAs

Equity, Connection & Inclusion

In collaboration with diverse partners across Student Services and within academic units, we strive to create cultures of connection, belonging, and inclusion that support and enhance well-being for equity deserving students and create a sense of connection for all.

• Indigenous Counselling Program & ISC Wellness Program (partnership with ISC)
• Advancing Black Student Well-being Plan
• Black Student Counselling & Support
• Identity & Community Counselling Groups
• International Student Transition Case Manager
• Events including Dog Therapy, Creative Collective and many more help create connection and community (partnership with SER)

 Mental Health & Well-being Literacy

We work collectively to empower students and partners through comprehensive, accessible and evidence-based mental health and well-being education that prioritizes safety, health equity and cultural competence.

• Health Peers
• Counselling Groups 
• Online Courses and Self-Guided Resources for graduate,& undergraduate students
• Presentations & Workshops
• Events and broader programming including World Mental Health Week 
• Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training
• Embedded well-being content in SFU 101, faculty specific orientation programs, academic programs and other campus programming

Support Services 

Within HCS we work in partnership with others across Student Services and the university to provide coordinated, accessible and culturally appropriate support to students. We are intentional in striving for warm hand-offs to the range of support options a student might benefit from. Through an interdisciplinary team of professionals, we provide accessible support and care to students that addresses both mental and physical health needs. We strive to achieve a stepped care model that puts students first, and enables students to access a range of culturally appropriate support options relevant to their needs. We work with others on campus to ensure critical incidents are managed in a timely and effective way. Early intervention is currently realized through a range of services, while recognizing the need for a formal early alerts program. In addition, however, a true holistic and comprehensive view of Well-being Support Services are those provisions that are required at the times when a student is in need, and that could impact a student’s well-being. This could include trauma-informed, responsive and integrated case management or advising for things such as housing, immigration, finances, disabilities, faith, academics or a variety of things that impact student lives. 

• Counselling Services
• Access Models and Triage
• Medical Services (including mental health nurses)
• Support Groups
• Critical Incident Support
• My SSP
• Partnerships with other providers and resources to provide holistic support

While we recognize that many people, units, and groups at the university contribute to student well-being, a comprehensive list of support services within the university is beyond the scope and influence of this departmental framework. This aspect is an integral and necessary part/lens of any well-being framework and intersects with all the above mention areas as well as the lenses of Education/Training and Settings.

Evaluation

The following key indicators are used to measure our progress over time towards improved student well-being, health equity and mental health at SFU.

In addition, qualitative and program specific evaluation takes place to understand the experiences of students in our programs and the impacts these have on their experiences as students. In order to understand and improve the experiences of equity deserving students, responses from these students are reviewed and explored so that informed and meaningful decisions can be made to improve health equity. 

An overview of current outcomes and impacts of the Healthy Campus Community Initiative can be found here.

Vision for the Future

As we reflect on the past 10 years of advancing student well-being at SFU, and commit to the new strategic direction outlined in SFU What’s Next, there is an opportunity to consider gaps that could be filled over the coming years. The following recommendations have been developed through a review of best practices from literature and at other post-secondary institutions, and an audit of our mental health initiatives at SFU in relation to the National Standard for Post-Secondary Student Mental Health.

1. Identify an upper leadership champion to endorse the framework, communicate with the SFU community about ways they can support and activate the Framework and ensure mechanisms (i.e., institutional governance structures, dedicated resources) are in place for sustained action and commitment over time.
2. Formalize a policy review process to ensure a mental health and well-being lens is applied in policies and processes, building on existing resources.
3. Formalize and support partnerships with academic units.  Strong faculty relationships and partnerships between the Healthy Campus Community initiative and the Centre for Educational Excellence exist. Leadership support for these efforts would be beneficial for ensuring participation extends beyond faculty champions.
4. Ensure a comprehensive and interdepartmental early alert and early intervention plan, which include a multi-model approach and capacity building among faculty and staff in academic units.
5. Ensure robust crises management and postvention plans including a working group to expand Critical Incident Management Processes (SRS)
6. Review and enhance mental health supports with attention to the needs of equity-deserving students, accessibility, student centered design and Reconciliation. Ensure representation of a diversity of mental health practitioners in continuing positions, to reflect the diverse needs of the community and that enhanced identity based supports are available. 
7. Advance strategies that support a stepped care model for student care, including a diverse array of support options and access points to meet students where they’re at, and improved efficiency in accessing and navigating care.
8. Develop a mental health peer support program and seamlessly embed it as part of the stepped care model. 
9. Ensure adequate resourcing to meet student demands for support and care and minimize wait times.
10. Streamline Health and Counselling Services’ intake process through access case managers, and other shifts to ensure timely assessment of student needs, ease of accessing next steps and resource navigation for improved continuity of care.
11. Create a physical space as a central location for students to access educational resources related to health & well-being and a community building space for well-being-related activities offered by peer programs and other groups. 
12. Ensure all educational programming is developed with a lens of cultural safety and equity. Develop targeted programming to enhance equity in collaboration with the Director, EDI for Student Services.
13. Continue to expand the breadth of student facing programs through which health and well-being messaging is embedded. 
14. Continue to expand evaluation metrics and plans.