*Note: This session has passed. Please view the recording and resources below.

About the session

Although understandings about mental health are ancient and varied, over the past three decades, conversations about wellbeing have grown. These stem from charities, healthcare, therapy, social/media, and more recently, from wellness and influencer cultures.  

Simultaneously, while awareness of (some) mental illnesses has increased, barriers to accessing diagnoses and care have also grown. In many settings, including academia, mental health and wellbeing support is not always available, affordable, accessible, or appropriate.  

The reasons for this shift are numerous and far bigger than the university where, over the past five years, the burgeoning discourse of “academic mental health” now includes awareness days, research of varying quality, vague and confused definitions, unclear boundaries around duties of care, a specific genre of self-help books, multiple interventions with varying theories and approaches, and the inevitable wellbeing webinar. 

The backdrop to this is, of course, the systemic problems within academia that may cause, or worsen, danger or distress. Factors like climate change, pollution, the impact and legacy of the pandemic, political unrest, war, conflict and displacement, poverty, historical abuses, inequalities, and access barriers compound the problem. 

For some these issues are acute, while for others the impact is minimal, with minoritized students and staff disproportionately affected. However, many approaches to addressing academic mental health adopt a ‘one size fits all’ model that consistently fails to meet the needs of diverse students, staff, or wider communities and is detached from wider systems of teaching, learning, research, or performing other labour within academic institutions. 

Our session will review existing evidence, policies, protocols, manifestos, and concordats. Then, using pre-submitted participant questions, it will reflect on who is brought in, and left out, by existing discussions around academic mental health. This will be used to produce pragmatic, supportive, sensitive, and inclusive ideas allowing us to consider how we might integrate a community of care across our campuses, research, teaching, and pastoral provision.  

This session aims to leave everyone feeling comforted, validated, and aware of different approaches to caring for oneself, others, and the wider environment. 

Speaker

Petra Boynton is a social psychologist who supports universities, charities, research organizations and government departments to undertake and use research in pragmatic, inclusive, accessible, ethical, and safe ways. She specializes in teaching the often neglected or forgotten ‘how tos’ of research. Petra’s key focus is on mental health, rights, and wellbeing, described in her PEEPS Model for prioritizing safety and wellbeing in teaching, research, and pastoral care.  

Petra’s background is in international health services research, and she has applied this through working as an Agony Aunt (advice columnist) for print, broadcast, and online publications. Using that experience to create self-help resources for researchers including The Research Companion: A practical guide for the social sciences, health and development (2nd ed., 2016); Coping with Pregnancy Loss (2018); and Being Well In Academia: Ways to feel stronger, safer and more connected (2020). 

Recording and Resources

• Transcript – Creating communities of care for all who work or study in academia – A critical, collective, and pragmatic approach (PDF)
• Transcript – Creating communities of care for all who work or study in academia – A critical, collective, and pragmatic approach (Word)
• Slides – Creating communities of care for all who work or study in academia – A critical, collective, and pragmatic approach (PDF)
• Notes – Creating communities of care for all who work or study in academia – A critical, collective, and pragmatic approach (Word)
• Notes – Creating communities of care for all who work or study in academia – A critical, collective, and pragmatic approach (PDF)
• View recording on media.bccampus.ca

About the series 

The Research Speaker Series offers participants and presenters an opportunity to learn and share knowledge on research methods, approaches, and pedagogies around accessibility, access, Indigenous engagement, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in teaching and learning.  

These livestream webinars take place every month from September to December and will allow you to learn about new research directly from the researchers.  

Sessions

1. September 10, 2024 – Arts-based research as paradigm, manifesto and mission for volatile times, Geo Takach, Royal Roads University  
2. October 29, 2024 – Centring digital accessibility in research praxis, Kim Ashbourne, University of Victoria
3. November 26, 2024 – Using the 5Rs as an Indigenous research framework, Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule, University of Victoria
4. December 10, 2024 – Creating communities of care for academic spaces: a critical, collective, and pragmatic approach, Petra Boynton

Learning outcomes 

By the end of this series, participants will be able to:   

• Broaden their knowledge and research skills in the B.C. post-secondary context.
• Learn about Indigenization, EDI, decolonization, and accessibility in research.
• Be inspired to participate in research communities of practice or explore themes in their work.
• Connect with academics and community members who share similar interests.