Background: Students experience lower levels of wellbeing than the general, age-matched population. A whole-university approach to mental health is encouraged, which must work for individuals from all backgrounds and experiences. Student input is vital in researching and designing these solutions. Nurture-U is a national, large-scale research project exploring better ways to support student wellbeing, with a Student Advisory Group (SAG) that feeds into project decision making. With the first year of the project now completed, we now critically review the processes and effectiveness of the SAG and how well the project is engaging and working with students.
Methods: Assessment of the SAG's impact on the project, the student advisors, and the researchers was undertaken through a content analysis of team meetings and collection of advisor and researcher feedback using the Patient Engagement Quality Guidance Tool.
Results: 142 students worked on different tasks in the first year of the Nurture-U project. The SAG was involved in the project branding and marketing, and in the development and co-design of interventions and tools. They reported a positive experience, with involvement boosting confidence. They felt valued but reported not always knowing whether their input was implemented in final decisions. They also recommended different methods of providing feedback. Researchers found student input beneficial to communicate the viewpoint of a different generation and increase the relevance of the study, but also suggested improvements for communication between the research team and the student group.
Conclusions: This critical reflection of the SAG's public advisor role in this large-scale research project was important in highlighting what worked well and areas to improve. As the project unfolds, we aim to adapt our methods of student input, increase the transparency of decision-making processes, and in turn increase student-led decision making within the project.
Keywords: Co-design; Co-production; Mental health; Public engagement; Public involvement; Students; Wellbeing.
University students face many challenges to their wellbeing, including academic stress, frequent changes of location, distancing of support systems, and new social and cultural surroundings. The Nurture-U research project is looking at how universities can support student wellbeing. It is supported by a Student Advisory Group (SAG) that is helping us design the research. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the input of the SAG in the first year of the 4-year Nurture-U project. 142 students worked on different tasks in the first year of the Nurture-U project, including marketing and designing therapeutic apps. The SAG described feeling valued, gaining confidence and an understanding of mental health and research. Researchers felt the SAG improved Nurture-U, making it more relevant to students. However, all were concerned that final decisions were researcher-led, not student-led. There was also a lack of diversity, with most of the SAG being female. The SAG advised different ways for researchers and students to work together. This included having different ways for student advisors to voice their opinions, for example in smaller or face-to-face groups, or on online boards. Also, researchers could engage with the SAG differently, through newsletters or videos, to make it clearer how final decisions are made. This formal reflection activity has helped the Nurture-U team consider ways to improve working with the SAG for the rest of the project, which we hope will ensure that student voices guide how the project unfolds.
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