Accessing Wellbeing Support
The Wellbeing Service is committed to providing all students who face a wellbeing or mental health challenge, professional advice and support in timely and accessible manner. In order to do this and prevent waiting times, we use a triage system where all students can access a Wellbeing Triage Appointment for initial advice and signposting to any appropriate support required. This may be internally from within the wellbeing service or externally to local statutory services and specialist organisations. We aim to see students with 2-3 working days however this can be longer during busy periods i.e. leading up to assessments and exams.
If you have a long-term mental health condition we encourage you to book in with an adviser so we are able to ensure you have access to the right support whilst you are at University.
The Warwick Scale questionnaire measures mental wellbeing and will help you choose the most appropriate type of support for your needs.
What can Wellbeing offer?
The Wellbeing Service offer support within Step 1 & 2 of the Stepped Care Model. It may be helpful to see what we can and can’t provide.
What we can provide:
- Professional triage through listening, advice and signposting to appropriate support services.
- Short-term (up to 3 sessions) of mentoring for transient wellbeing issues or to bridge gap whilst accessing other services.
- Time limited (up to 6 sessions) counselling with a qualified counsellor where it is assessed as suitable.
- A range of wellbeing initiatives, not provided by other statutory service or local providers, that support wellbeing (see bottom of page)
- Adjustments to support study (where a mental health issue has been identified by a health professional)
- Supporting mitigation evidence (where the wellbeing service has supported a wellbeing or mental health issue)
- Advocacy and liaison with tutors and academic staff when a wellbeing or mental health issue is affecting the ability to study effectively.
What we can’t provide:
- Emergency/crisis support both in and out of hours (see urgent support information)
- Diagnostic assessment and treatment for mental health conditions (this can be sought through referral to primary care or secondary care NHS services)
- Longer term, regular emotional support (students with this level of need should apply for a DSA so a mental health mentor can be provided
- Support to staff experiencing personal wellbeing/mental health issues (the HR dept provide a range of wellbeing support for staff).
Booking a Wellbeing Triage Appointment
You can book a wellbeing triage appointments directly online. Appointments run daily (Mon-Fri) during term time, and you can book in with either a mental health adviser or student wellbeing adviser for either a morning or afternoon appointment. We encourage you to book a slot with an adviser relevant to your particular needs to get the most out of your appointment.
In order to minimise the amount of non-attendance, Wellbeing Triage Appointments cannot be booked more than a week in advance . We politely ask that you ‘unbook’ your appointment slot if you are not going to be able to make it to allow others the opportunity to access support.
What to expect from my Wellbeing Triage Appointment
You can expect to receive a 20 minute 1:1 triage appointment where you will have the opportunity to talk to your adviser about your needs and discuss support available to you. We follow a stepped-care model approach therefore your adviser will recommend the most effective, least intensive/intrusive treatment first before suggesting any further one-to-one treatment or support. The Wellbeing Service stepped care approach to support may look like this:-
Step One: Prevention and Promotion
We will explore support that can be utilised from friends, family, faith groups, telephone help-lines, advice agencies, carer support, peer support groups and other self-help.
Step Two: Recognition and
We may suggest a ‘watchful waiting’ approach with a view to a follow up appointment with either a wellbeing or mental health adviser for further assessment. Guided self-help, mentoring, peer support groups, workshops and signposting to resources in step one, may also be considered.
Step Three: Assessment/Primary Care Interventions
You will be signposted to your local IAPT (improved Access to Psychological Therapies) service where you can access further assessment and treatment. This may include short-term psychological intervention i.e counselling or CBT (we do have some time limited Uni counselling provision) within Wellbeing), physical health checks, medication prescribing and review, computerised CBT, and/or social prescribing.
Step Four: Secondary/Specialist Services
Where comprehensive, specialist treatment and support are needed i.e. access to local mental health team, early intervention team, crisis team etc, we will signpost you to your G.P or to A&E liaison team for an assessment and referral.
Step Five: Specialist
This includes in-patient services for students with high risks and complex mental health needs who require specialist interventions. If this level of care is required, we may have to talk to your next of kin and arrange an urgent assessment with your G.P or A&E liaison team. A period of time away from Uni may be reqired.