Background
Going to school out-of-state, the transition into college did not go as smoothly as I thought it would. Starting over and making new friends took time, creating mental health issues that made my first semester very tough. As I talked to more people, I realized that these mental health problems were rampant throughout campus, but no one sought help from the student health center. After talking to others in similar situations and learning about the lack of resources on campus, I recognized the need for an overhaul of the way that the university refers students when resources are low.
Surveying Students
To gather a better perspective on the scope of this issues, I sent out surveys to students at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California. The main goal of these surveys was to understand the severity of mental health issues across college campuses as well as the reasons that people were not getting the help they need. In order to best sample the national college student population within constraint, there were 2 primary considerations:
Public and private institutions can differ greatly in the quality/funding of student resources. By gathering data from both USC and UT, I would have a better picture of what university mental health problems look like nationwide.
At both institutions, the students were surveyed from a pool of various majors and social involvements. This was important to me because I wanted to make sure that my data didn't tell a false narrative by focusing only on exceptionally stressful academic spaces.
Constructing the Survey
After gathering a sample that met these conditions, I sent them a brief survey to lay the foundation of my knowledge of this issues. Some of these questions included:
Survey Results
With a sample size of 52, the survey showed results that mirrored my initial impressions of mental health on college campuses.
Interview
After noticing the frequency of people citing mental health counselors being inaccessible, I reached out to 5 individuals who were willing to share more details about their experience with their campus health center. These interviews consisted of 10-15 minute phone calls where I listened to their stories and guided the discussion to focus on the way the system failed them when they needed it most.
The most resonating quotes included:
No one ever reached out from the health center.
The process of seeking professional help is intimidating and terrifying.
Defining the Problem
To see the problem at a high level, I mapped out the current outcomes for different types of students seeking care.
PROBLEM DEFINITION
Personas
From my interviews and problem-mapping, I was able to see the ways that students were experiencing this issues in different ways. In order to keep these diverse perspectives in mind, I created a persona for the main types of students I encountered.
No one ever reached out from the health center.
The process of seeking professional help is intimidating and terrifying.