School of Nursing, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Japan.
Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2021 Sep;42(9):862-869. doi: 10.1080/01612840.2021.1894617. Epub 2021 Mar 19.
Academic educators in universities are well positioned to detect early signs and symptoms of unexplained behaviour change in students that could be the beginning of mental health issues. The purpose of this research was to explore the attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and practices of university academics in Japan towards health science students with psychological/mental health issues. This study used a qualitative descriptive design. Three focus groups using a semi-structured interview guide were conducted with 15 academics teaching health science students. Data were collected between March to October 2019. Themes revealed three areas of interest: 1) Reflection on mental health issues in Japan with sub-themes "family issues"; "society expectations and changes", and "stigma"; 2) Reflection on students' mental health issues with sub-themes "student behaviors", "staff involvement", "barriers encountered"; and, 3) Potential supports with sub-themes "university assistance", "communication and connection", and "interventions and prevention." The findings provide insight and can benefit student populations across diverse cultural university settings. Further research to investigate academic staff support with early recognition of mental ill-health and ability to provide information and advice to students is warranted. Recommendations include mental health education for academics and for students to encourage healthy university campuses and well-being within the community.
高校学术教育工作者能够很好地发现学生出现不明原因行为变化的早期迹象和症状，这些变化可能是心理健康问题的开始。本研究旨在探讨日本高校学术教育工作者对有心理/心理健康问题的健康科学专业学生的态度、信念、知识和实践。本研究采用定性描述设计。2019 年 3 月至 10 月期间，使用半结构式访谈指南对 15 名教授健康科学专业学生的学术人员进行了 3 次焦点小组讨论。数据收集完成。主题揭示了三个感兴趣的领域：1）对日本心理健康问题的反思，其下分为“家庭问题”、“社会期望和变化”和“污名化”；2）对学生心理健康问题的反思，下分为“学生行为”、“员工参与”、“遇到的障碍”；以及 3）潜在的支持，下分为“大学援助”、“沟通和联系”以及“干预和预防”。研究结果提供了深入的了解，可以使来自不同文化背景的高校学生受益。有必要进一步研究学术人员对心理健康不良的早期识别以及为学生提供信息和建议的能力。建议包括对学术人员和学生进行心理健康教育，以鼓励大学校园健康和社区内的幸福感。
