Grant: Op. Grant: TiC - Evaluation Grants - On-Campus Post-Secondary Mental Hlth Serv

The demand for student mental health care is increasing and threatening to overwhelm resources across university campuses. However, there is limited data to inform universities about how best to support the mental health of an increasingly diverse student population, identify those at highest risk, and facilitate the timely transition to appropriate mental health care. This proposal builds on a funded CIHR study of first year students transitioning to Queen's and Oxford universities. The study will follow these students through the next two years of university life. Objectives include to: (i) evaluate transitions to mental health care, (ii) identify barriers and gaps, and (iii) assess the impact of access to mental health care on the association between risk factors, mental health and academic success. To address these objectives, the study will use mixed methods including electronic surveys each fall and spring term, linkage to administrative, academic and electronic medical record data, as well as an optional remote capture study using a free App downloaded to student smartphones. To ensure full representation of the undergraduate student population, an abbreviated electronic survey study addressing the same objectives will be offered to all undergraduate students at each university. This study addresses a major knowledge gap about transitions to mental health care in the undergraduate student population, as well as providing data on transitions for key subgroups (transgender, international students, history of a mental illness). Study findings will produce a model to inform the organization of student mental health care addressing identified barriers and gaps. The study will also importantly build capacity for study mental health research in Canada and internationally.