Minister for Higher Education and Research Simon Harris has announced funding for a new initiative that will provide 24/7 mental health support to third-level students.
The funding will be available to all publicly funded higher education institutions for this academic year.
In a press release on the topic, Minister Harris said: “As students and staff returned back to college campuses last year, we made a commitment to provide the supports to assist them in whatever way we could.”
“Today [Monday] I am delighted to follow through on this commitment with funding for this vitally important partnership between PCHEI and Togetherall.”
Psychological Counsellors in Higher Education Ireland (PCHEI) and Togetherall will work together “to deliver a clinically moderated, online peer-to-peer mental health community that empowers individuals to anonymously seek and provide support.”
Treasa Fox, chairperson of PCHEI, exalted these features of the “mental health community”, saying: “the fact that it’s anonymous and moderated by mental health professionals mean that it’s a very safe space to connect, to talk about what’s going on, to give and receive support.”
Henry Jones, CEO of Togetherall, promoted its perceived benefits, adding that “we’ve seen how offering a choice of services and easy-access tools can help a wider range of needs and a larger proportion of students.”
Togetherall, launched in 2007, offers a range of activities within its online community via an app. A user can join a “Talkabout” to “discuss what’s on their mind, gain support and advice”. The user can choose how many people to involve in this, from the whole community down to one-to-one conversations.
A user can also “Make a Brick”, meaning they can express their feelings through uploading an image or drawing, as well as make friendships (anonymously) and join courses to learn how to manage their mental health.
According to a study carried out by Togetherall and the University of Edinburgh, “higher baseline depression and anxiety and greater accessed self-help materials predicted lower final anxiety scores” amongst 600 16–18 year-olds.
In 2018, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) conducted a nationwide survey, reaching out to third-level students to give feedback on their mental health. It found that 20.9 per cent of respondents did not have someone to talk to about personal and emotional difficulties. The survey also found that 38.4 per cent and 29.9 per cent of respondents were experiencing “extremely severe” levels of anxiety and depression, respectively.
Minister Harris also acknowledged the effects of coronavirus, saying “students endured an incredibly difficult two years during the pandemic, with the long-term impact on their mental health potentially significant”.
The funding for this partnership has been granted by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) under the additional funding in Budget 2023 as part of the packages to mitigate the impact of coronavirus. This comes with matched funding from the Health Service Executive (HSE) and is aimed at “supporting implementation” of the National Student Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Framework.
