Survey to Inform the Development of an Online Support System for Higher Education Students - Higher Education and Online Support

An increasing number of higher education students face mental health difficulties, but the universities’ student support services (SSS) struggle to meet demand with limited resources. Web-based alternatives hold promise as a novel medium through which students could access support. Online interventions appear to be effective and may therefore provide a cost-effective alternative, relieving some of the burden on struggling SSS. This paper presents results from an explorative survey of 61 students questioned about their opinion of online support systems. The majority of students indicated that they would use such a system and that it should be interactive and personalized, focusing on time and money management, relaxation exercises, and building social skills. Future directions towards the development of such a system are discussed

Online intervention, ‘MePlusMe’, supporting mood, wellbeing, study skills, and everyday functioning in students in higher education: a protocol for a feasibility study

Background: Psychological and study skill difficulties faced by students in higher education can lead to poor academic performance, sub-optimal mental health, reduced study satisfaction, and drop out from study. At the same time, higher education institutions’ support services are costly, oversubscribed, and struggle to meet demand whilst facing budget reductions. The purpose of the proposed study is to evaluate the acceptability of a new online intervention, MePlusMe, aimed at students in higher education facing mild to moderate psychological and/or study skill difficulties. The study will also assess the feasibility of proposed recruitment and outcome assessment protocols for a future trial of effectiveness. The system supports self-management strategies alongside ongoing monitoring facilitated by a messaging service, as well as featuring a built-in community of student users. It is based on current clinical guidelines for the management of common mental health problems, together with best practice from the educational field. Methods/design: Two hundred and forty two students will be recruited to a within-subjects, repeated measures study conducted over 8 weeks. Self-report measures of depression and anxiety symptoms, mental wellbeing, academic self-efficacy, and everyday functioning will be collected at baseline, and then at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. During this period, students will have access to the intervention system. UK higher education institutions Bournemouth University and University of Warwick will participate in the study. Data on student satisfaction and engagement will also be collected. Study findings will help to determine the most appropriate primary outcome and the required sample size for a future trial. Discussion: This study will evaluate the acceptability of an online intervention system for students facing psychological and/or study skill difficulties and will test recruitment procedures and outcome measures for a future trial of effectiveness. The system is designed to be implemented as a stand-alone service or a service complementary to student support services, which is accessible to the majority of students and effective in improving student experience at higher education institutions

Home or hospital as the place of end-of-life care and death: A grounded theory study of parents' decision-making

BACKGROUND: While several studies have examined 'what' families want with regard to the place of a child's end-of-life care and death, few have explored 'how' parents reach a decision. AIMS: (1) to develop a model explaining how parents of a child with a life-threatening illness in Greece decide about the place of end-of-life care and death; (2) to identify the factors affecting decision-making; (3) to consider the implications for clinical practice. DESIGN: Grounded theory study of bereaved parents using semi-structured open-ended interviews following Strauss and Corbin's principles of data collection and analysis. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Semi-structured interviews with 36 bereaved parents of 22 children who died at home (n = 9) or in a paediatric hospital (n = 13) in Athens, Greece. RESULTS: (1) Decisions regarding place of care and death were reached in one of four ways: consensus, accommodation, imposition of professional decisions on parents or imposition of parents' decisions without including professionals. (2) Six factors were identified as affecting decisions: awareness of dying, perceived parental caregiving competence, perceived professional competence, parents' view of symptom management, timing of decision-making, and being a 'good parent'. (3) Decisions were clear-cut or shifting. Few parents did not engage in decisions. CONCLUSION: Parents' decisions about place of end-of-life care and death are affected by personal, interpersonal, timing and disease-related factors. Parents are best supported in decision-making when information is presented clearly and honestly with recognition of what acting as 'good parents' means to them, and opportunities to enhance their caregiving competence to care for their child at home, if they choose so

Exploring the feasibility and acceptability of the contents, design, and functionalities of an online intervention promoting mental health, wellbeing, and study skills in Higher Education students

Background: Substantial numbers of students in Higher Education (HE) are reporting mental health difficulties, such as mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Coupled with academic skills challenges, these difficulties can lead to decreased academic performance, low levels of study satisfaction, and eventually drop out. Student support services are facing budget cuts and can only attend to limited numbers of students, usually the ones who present with more severe mental health problems. Moreover, face-to-face contact may not appeal to those students who feel embarrassed by their problems or are afraid of being stigmatised. To address this important problem, an online psychological wellbeing and study skills support system called MePlusMe, has been developed to provide personalised support to its users. In the present study we investigated the feasibility and acceptability of the contents, design, and functionalities of the system. Methods: An offline version of the system was introduced to 13 postgraduate and undergraduate students (mean age = 31.3 years, SD = 10.25 years; 4 males) in a UK HE Institution, who presented with mild or moderate mental health difficulties. The participants evaluated the design of the system, its functionalities, and contents at Baseline and at Weeks 2, 4, and 8. Results: Participants found the system easy to use, professional, and efficient and its contents non-judgemental and informative. Participants stated that engaging with and practicing the techniques targeted at mental health difficulties led to improvements in positive thinking and self-confidence, while the study skills techniques were practical. Suggestions for further improvement included the development of an app and an option for direct engagement with professionals. Conclusions: The findings confirmed the acceptability of the contents, design and functionalities of the system, while providing useful information to inform its further development. Next steps include a feasibility study, which will test and quantify the effects on everyday functioning, mood, mental wellbeing, and academic self-efficacy after using the system, and subsequently a randomized controlled trial, which will evaluate its effectiveness

The use of protocol in breaking bad news: evidence and ethos

This article discusses health professionals use of protocol in the breaking of bad news, focusing particularly on the well-known SPIKES framework. The evidence of impact on the patient experience is examined and recommendations are made for further outcome-based research. Existing evidence suggests that the model as commonly interpreted may not fully meet the needs of patients or reflect the clinical experience of breaking bad news for some professionals and further guidance may be needed to support them in their practice. The ethos of the step-wise protocol is debated, questioning whether it helps or hinders individualised care and the formation of a genuine relationship between patient and professional. Finally, recommendations for practice are offered

A machine learning approach to quantifying the specificity of colour–emotion associations and their cultural differences

The link between colour and emotion and its possible similarity across cultures are questions that have not been fully resolved. Online, 711 participants from China, Germany, Greece and the UK associated 12 colour terms with 20 discrete emotion terms in their native languages. We propose a machine learning approach to quantify (a) the consistency and specificity of colour–emotion associations and (b) the degree to which they are country-specific, on the basis of the accuracy of a statistical classifier in (a) decoding the colour term evaluated on a given trial from the 20 ratings of colour–emotion associations and (b) predicting the country of origin from the 240 individual colour–emotion associations, respectively. The classifier accuracies were significantly above chance level, demonstrating that emotion associations are to some extent colour-specific and that colour–emotion associations are to some extent country-specific. A second measure of country-specificity, the in-group advantage of the colour-decoding accuracy, was detectable but relatively small (6.1%), indicating that colour–emotion associations are both universal and culture-specific. Our results show that machine learning is a promising tool when analysing complex datasets from emotion researc

Healthcare staff's experience in providing end-of-life care to children: A mixed-method review.

BACKGROUND: Staff who provide end-of-life care to children not only have to deal with their own sense of loss but also that of bereaved families. There is a dearth of knowledge on how they cope with these challenges. AIM: The aim of this review is to explore the experiences of healthcare professionals who provide end-of-life care to children in order to inform the development of interventions to support them, thereby improving the quality of paediatric care for both children and their families. DATA SOURCES: Searches included CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsychINFO and The Cochrane Library in June 2015, with no date restrictions. Additional literature was uncovered from searching reference lists of relevant studies, along with contacting experts in the field of paediatric palliative care. DESIGN: This was a systematic mixed studies review. Study selection, appraisal and data extraction were conducted by two independent researchers. Integrative thematic analysis was used to synthesise the data. RESULTS: The 16 qualitative, 6 quantitative and 8 mixed-method studies identified included healthcare professionals in a range of settings. Key themes identified rewards and challenges of providing end-of-life care to children, the impact on staff's personal and professional lives, coping strategies and key approaches to help support staff in their role. CONCLUSION: Education focusing on the unique challenges of providing end-of-life care to children and the importance of self-care, along with timely multidisciplinary debriefing, are key strategies for improving healthcare staff's experiences, and as such the quality of care they provide

Supporting mental health, wellbeing and study skills in Higher Education:an online intervention system

Abstract Background Dealing with psychological and study skill difficulties can present a challenge for both Higher Education (HE) students, who suffer from them, but also for HE Institutions and their support services. Alternative means of support, such as online interventions, have been identified as cost-effective and efficient ways to provide inclusive support to HE students, removing many of the barriers to help-seeking as well as promoting mental health and wellbeing. Case presentation The current case study initially outlines the rigorous approach in the development of one such online intervention system, MePlusMe. It further highlights key features that constitute innovative delivery of evidence-based psychological and educational practice in the areas of mental health, promotion of wellbeing, support of mood and everyday functioning, and study-skills enhancement. Conclusions This case study aims to present the innovative features of MePlusMe in relation to current needs and evidence-basis. Finally, it presents future directions in the evaluation, assessment, and evidence of the fitness-for-purpose process

Investigating the feasibility of MePlusMe, an online intervention to support mental health, wellbeing, and study skills in higher education students

Introduction: While there are several web-based interventions to support mental health, few target students in higher education (HE). Importantly, more research is needed to establish their effectiveness. Here, we provide a pragmatic evaluation of an online intervention (MePlusMe) specifically designed to improve the mental health, wellbeing, and study skills of HE students. Methods: In accordance with the published protocol for a feasibility study, we obtained a convenience sample of 137 HE students, with students recruited to participate in an 8-week intervention. To evaluate the feasibility and assess the effects of this online intervention, validated measures of mood (depression and anxiety), wellbeing and self-efficacy were collected at baseline, 2, 4 and 8 weeks, alongside two feedback forms assessing design and functionality (baseline), and engagement (week 4 and 8). Results: We observed statistically significant reductions in levels of anxiety and depression, and increases in wellbeing over the 8-week intervention period. However, there were no significant changes in self-efficacy. Participants rated the system design and functionality positively, and qualitative findings indicated high levels of satisfaction with MePlusMe. Some areas for improvement were also identified. Discussion: Rates of initial consent, subsequent engagement with the programme, and measure completion, together with qualitative feedback, support the acceptability of the intervention. Significant benefits were observed for the main intended outcomes, with the overall results providing qualified support for the effectiveness of MePlusMe. The significant positive changes associated with use of this system are encouraging. Nonetheless, modest retention rates limit the precision and generalisability of these findings. Further investigation should ascertain optimal duration of engagement, most acceptable means of outcome assessment, and further detail about obstacles to utilisation

Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries

People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving one physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio