Research

USI Mental Health Survey

A key part of the USI mental health project is to carry out research into student mental health. In September we launched the results of the first National Student Mental Health Survey, which was carried out through 2018 and 2019. This is a large piece of research and will provide a much-needed insight into student mental health. It is the first of its kind looking specifically at student mental health across Ireland. We got a great response to that survey with over 3300 people completing it. While this is not a large enough sample to be considered nationally representative, the results still hold value and point to areas of concern for students.

We also hope to carry out several flash surveys that will give us a glimpse into specific issues for example the experience of international students or those who have had to repeat a year or come off books due to mental health, as well as producing some reports detailing deeper analysis of the data already gathered.

You can read the report here

Out of Silence – Women’s Mental Health in their Own Words

USI attended the launch of the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) report ‘Out of Silence – Women’s Mental Health in their Own Words’ earlier this week. In 2017/8, NWCI undertook a programme of conversations with groups of women across the country, centring women’s understanding of mental health – the things that keep women well, the social and community networks that support them and the services they turn to in times of difficulty. USI were one of the groups consulted and gathered a focus group of students to take part in the research. This report seeks to translate women’s insights into key recommendations for mental health services which could better meet women’s needs.

Link to report – HERE