09.30
| Registration and refreshments
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10.00
| Welcome and setting the scene
Professor Steve West, Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive Officer, University of the West of England
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10.10
| Covid-19 has challenged us, so where are we now?
Speaker to be announced. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on our daily lives, heightening issues with mental health and wellbeing. Setting the scene for the day, we will take a contextual look at the journey we have been on since the start of the pandemic and delve into where we are now and what we have learnt to best support our university communities.
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10.30
| Delivering blended and digital support services
With traditional methods of teaching being disrupted and most universities delivering either blended or online learning, student support services have had to follow suit. How have services adapted? And what have we learnt and what strategy has been implemented in the new academic year as we navigate this new way of supporting students?
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11.00
| Refreshments and networking
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11.20
| Breakout sessions
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| Dealing with bereavement and loss
Sadly, with coronavirus taking so many lives, members of university communities may find themselves grief-stricken with the loss of friends, family, or colleagues. Bereavement can affect people in different ways and symptoms can arise unexpectedly at any time. How can we support those members of our community who are dealing with grief?
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| Addressing the hardships of vulnerable international students
The global pandemic has increased the vulnerability of many international students who have been unable to return home, have lost their jobs, and have faced an increased risk of hate crime and harassment. How do we best support them through these unique adversities?
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| The mental health impacts of domestic abuse
Being locked down or self-isolating with an abuser or in a household with domestic violence can have huge physical and mental impacts on individuals and families. As the UK emerges out of lockdown and tries to get back to some kind of normality, what can universities do to keep the survivors in their community safe and care for their mental wellbeing?
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12.20
| Lunch and networking
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13.00
| Working in partnership with the NHS
Dr Dominique Thompson, Founder, Buzz Consulting
Dr Sandeep Ranote, Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership - invited Jesper Madsen, Danish Counselling Service
Students can find it difficult to access NHS mental health services away from home. To address this, this session will highlight partnerships that have been formed between NHS services and Universities to meet the increasing needs of students and prevent them from falling between the cracks.
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13.30
| Using data and analytics to personalise mental health support
Professor Peter Francis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Northumbria University Chris Newson, Chairman & CEO, The Student Room Group and Founder, Enlitened – invited
Alan Davies, Chair, Innovation Agency - invited
This panel will discuss how using innovative analytics and technology can help to identify students in a mental health crisis. By using data, this approach aims to identify patterns and themes to personalise support and early interventions.
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14.05
| A whole university approach to mental health: improved information sharing
Professor Julia Buckingham, Vice-Chancellor, Brunel University London
Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery, Professor of Healthcare Law, University College London – invited
Vulnerable students could be showing signs of depression or anxiety, which may be seen by multiple people at different times. Improved collaboration across departments, information sharing and a whole university approach to mental health may ensure greater opportunities for intervention and suicide prevention.
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14.30
| Time to change rooms
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14.35
| Breakout sessions
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| Healthcare students on the frontlines of Covid-19
Healthcare students in training were propelled into the reality of a global pandemic when they joined NHS staff and key workers to help save the lives of individuals with Covid-19. This session will explore the impacts of this early release into their chosen careers and how their heroic actions could take a toll on their wellbeing.
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| Autistic students: coping with change
Life in lockdown for students on the autistic spectrum has proven especially difficult. Autistic people rely on structure and routine as a coping mechanism and suddenly without much notice or planning, their study patterns have dramatically changed. Now with blended and digital learning more permanently in the mix, how do we ensure that autistic students are fully supported to engage and participate in university life?
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| Safeguarding against technology-mediated abuseTechnology has been deemed a saviour amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Students can study remotely, staff can work from home, meetings can take place virtually and it is possible to chat instantly. However, what happens when the very thing that is connecting us to the wider world is also increasing the opportunity for online harassment? With technology being at the heart of ensuring that students and staff can access what they need, how can we ensure that we are all operating in a safe virtual environment?
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15.35
| Refreshments and networking
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15.55
| Staff mental health and wellbeingProfessor Sir Cary Cooper, Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
A speaker from Mind.
University staff present their own unique support needs do the very best for their students. Many will face demanding and conflicting priorities which can take a toll on their mental health and wellbeing. Universities must have a whole institutional approach that promotes good mental health for staff as well as students.
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16.15
| Alone in lockdownA panel session informed by different perspectives, such as those from the LGBTQ, disability, and care-experienced communities.
Life as we knew it changed and we have all now lived through and continue to live through a very different world due to the corona virus pandemic. Some people may have been alone for months. Some people may have found that lockdown exasperated existing experiences of loneliness. This panel, made up of individuals with various perspectives, addresses how loneliness and isolation can affect anyone with the potential for hugely detrimental effects and what universities can do to combat it.
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16:25
| Closing remarks
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