Mental Health training for University staff

Universities have a diverse range of needs when it comes to mental health and wellbeing. The community has many different subsets - administrative or facilities staff, academic staff, undergraduates, postgraduates - all with their own needs. This poses many problems and issues for leaders, who are used to hearing about concerns about mental health.

Many universities are considering the use of Mental Health First Aiders for a few members of their staff, however we recommend that this is done as part of a strategic plan, which includes the development of the ethos and leadership.

The Root Of It, experts in mental health, offer three solutions for universities:

The Mental Health Awareness Programme for Universities
Mental Health Awareness training
Mental Health First Aid training

Mental Health Awareness Programme for Universities

In a university, there are so many different leads and departments, it can be hard to develop a uniformed ethos to leading on mental health and wellbeing.

This 12-month Programme is delivered to university leaders on 3 days over the course of a year.

This course can be delivered to teams at a single university, we recommend at least one from each faculty (or equivalent), or the Programme be delivered to key staff in each faculty - for example faculty lead, academic lead, student support lead, admin staff lead, student representative and department leads. This approach allows the Programme to be tailored to your needs. Likewise, the programme can be delivered at a departmental (academic or non-academic) level.

Without taking away from any knowledge your teams may already have, the discussion based programme is designed to help identify and begin to implement ethos change, covering:

Auditing and action planning
Leadership in mental health
Ethos
Values and Beliefs
Reactions to mental health difficulties & unconscious bias
Workplace wellbeing
Student wellbeing
Common mental health difficulties

Each module is delivered through discussion-based activities, leading onto actions related to your university. There are then follow-up activities for your staff to do between the programme days to ensure there is immediate impact.

In addition, participants choose 2 modules to self-study to develop the knowledge and skills relevent to their role:

Multi-team working
Voice of the student
Voice of staff
Support for students
Support for staff
Disabilities and medical conditions
Mental health difficulties
Mental wellbeing

The Programme costs £1,400 + VAT per person, with a minimum group of 5 for in-person cohorts. It is ideal for those faculties or universities who recognise they need a consistent strategy for mental health and wellbeing.

To find out how this programme fits in with your needs, please contact the Programme Director, Richard Curtis on 07938 329314 or richard.curtis@rootofit.com.

Programme Leaflet for Universities

Mental Health Awareness Training

Delivered as an online modular course, or in-person half-day course, this universal training course is designed to give university staff, students reps and others an insight into the common mental health conditions they are likely to encounter and some simple do's and do not's about approaching this sensitive issue.

Can be used to compliment implementation of the Mental Health Awareness Programme, or as a stand-alone offer for staff.

Pricing depends on numbers of staff accessing the training, please contact Richard Curtis on 07938 329314 or richard.curtis@rootofit.com.

Mental Health First Aid

Through our trusted partners, we are able to provide Mental Health First Aid training for your employees. In view of the information provided by the HSE, we recommend this is only provided to staff as part of a wider piece of work, to ensure there is an ethos and staff awareness that facilitates embedding of good mental health practice.