Communities of Practice as a Tool to Promote Wellbeing on Campus

From UBC Wiki

Mental Health/Wellbeing on Campus

Mental health or wellbeing (used interchangeably on this page) can be defined as “the capacities of each and all of us to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face. It is a positive sense of emotional and spiritual well-being that respects the importance of culture, equity, social justice, interconnections, and personal dignity” (Government of Canada, 2015, para. 2). Many internal and external factors impact a person’s ability to sustain positive mental health, including chronic exposure to various forms of stress (Center for Addiction and Mental Health, 2019). Research suggests that post-secondary academic environments have become increasingly characterized by stressors that can negatively impact the mental wellbeing of both students and faculty members (Sabagh, Hall & Saroyan, 2018) without adequate expansion of support and resources for either group (DiPlacito-DeRango, 2016).

Implications for Students

Current research indicates that the prevalence and severity of stress and anxiety amongst college and university students are occuring at troubling rates.

  • The American College Health Association (ACHA) reports that in 2017:
    • 57% of college and university students described experiencing more than average or tremendous stress
    • 61% felt overwhelming anxiety
  • In a 2013 study of 16,123 Ontario university students:
    • 51% of students reported feeling hopeless
    • 40% reported feeling so depressed they were not able to function
    • 11% reported having seriously considered suicide (ACHA).

Overall, young people between 15-24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group, a period of increased risk that coincides with entrance into post-secondary environments (The Center for Mental Addiction and Health, 2019).

These mental health concerns can generate negative outcomes for university students, including low grades, academic probation, decreased student retention, social isolation, decreased emotional and behavioural skills, conflict, and inadequate finances (Storrie, Ahern, and Tuckett, 2016, Kitzrow, 2003).

Implications for Faculty

In a systematic review of literature related to burnout in university educators, Watts and Robertson found that stress-related burnout is a growing issue on campus (2011). They define burnout as a physical, emotional, and mental state “characterised as tripartite: the depletion of emotional reserves (emotional exhaustion), an increasingly cynical and negative approach towards others (depersonalisation) and a growing feeling of work-related dissatisfaction (personal accomplishment)” (Watts and Robertson, 2011, p. 34).

While there is further research required to accurately quantify the scale and impact of burnout on university faculty, studies have found:

  • Of 256 faculty members at a major US public university, approximately 20% of faculty reported the highest level of burnout on scales provided (Lackritz, 2004)
  • At a different university, more than a third of 366 faculty members suffered from burnout (Alves, Oliveira, da Silva Paro, 2019).

Poor mental health and burnout in faculty can cause disengagement from occupation, exhaustion, and decreased productivity, as well as limiting the capacity of faculty members to contribute to the positive mental health experiences of their students and to ensure the provision of high quality education (Alves, Oliveira, da Silva Paro, 2019).

What is a Community of Practice?

Communities of Practice (CoPs) are “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, 2002, p.4). The remainder of this page presents the results of an exploratory study investigating the effectiveness of a Teaching and Wellbeing Community of Practice established at the University of British Columbia in the fall of 2018.

How can a Community of Practice promote wellness on campus?

Given the prevalence and multi-level negative impacts of mental health concerns on campus for students and faculty alike, we are in need of interventions that aim to address the wellbeing of the entire campus community. The Canadian Association of College & University Student Services and Canadian Mental Health Association identify educating and supporting faculty as a key consideration in the creation of inclusive campus teaching and learning environments that promote the mental wellbeing of students and faculty (2013). Additionally, a systematic review indicates that faculty need more education, training, and institutional support around student mental health issues to increase student retention and academic success (Storrie, Ahern, and Tuckett, 2010), as well as to support their own positive mental health and mitigate burnout.

A Community of Practice focused on teaching and wellbeing offers a way to provide increased support, resources, strategies, and access to peers for faculty members with the aim of facilitating their greater capacity to address both faculty and student mental health concerns.

Community of Practice Workshops and Events

One way in which the Teaching and Wellbeing CoP aims to accomplish its goal of promoting wellness on campus is through hosting events and workshops centered on current issues regarding mental health and wellbeing in post-secondary teaching and learning environments. In the course of our study, 5 events took place across campus and were open to all university staff and faculty. We studied the effectiveness of these events as a means of evaluating the overall potential of the CoP as a tool to promote wellness on campus.

An exploratory study of the Teaching and Wellbeing CoP

We hypothesized that participation in the CoP wellness events would improve faculty member's ability to support their students in developing and maintaining positive mental health through the teaching environments they created, as well as providing tools and peer support that might help faculty manage their own wellbeing in the challenging academic environment of the university. The objectives of the study included 1) an investigation of the possible value created by wellness events; and 2) the identification of barriers and enablers to attendance that could inform recommendations for future activities of the Teaching and Wellbeing Community of Practice.

Method

Researchers chose a qualitative study design in order to gain an understanding of the experiences of individuals who attended the wellness events hosted by CoP. Conventional content analysis was chosen as it is a methodology recommended to “describe a phenomenon...when existing theory or research literature on a phenomenon is limited” (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005, p.1279). This methodology organizes data without imposing preconceived categories; each researcher highlights words or phrases in transcript data that appear to capture key concepts before organizing these into categories and subcategories, allowing the information from participants to be as directly represented in study results as possible (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). This design is meant to capture attendees’ experiences with and reactions to the teaching and wellbeing workshops as accurately as possible, with the goal of exploring the effectiveness of the workshops (and by extension, the effectiveness of the CoP) in promoting wellness as well as determining factors that supported or inhibited attendance at events.

Results

  1. Despite expressing interest in wellness events, all participants identified that they were not able to attend as many workshops as they would have liked. Initially, it appeared as though limited attendance was due to a breakdown in communication during the implementation of Teaching and Wellbeing Community of Practice events or due to scheduling conflicts. Further analysis indicated that institutional demands and expectations regarding academic productivity also constrained attendance by limiting the time available to faculty for activities such as these workshops.
  2. Interviews revealed that participants of CoP workshops/events had prior knowledge of mental health issues on campus and were each engaging in their own wellness initiatives or research; these preexisting endeavours acted as both an enabler to attending events (due to interest in the topic) and a barrier (due to increased time limitations). This finding also indicated that the CoP may be “preaching to the choir” by attracting only those attendees who are already engaged in efforts to address issues of mental health and wellbeing.
  3. While one participant spoke favourably of the events they attended, two participants reported being disappointed. Analysis of each interview indicates that the participants’ response to the wellness events was largely influenced by their expectations about what could be gained from these workshops (one participant sought out the workshops for access to peers and resources and was happy with his experience, while two hoped to become involved in creating and implementing actionable agenda items and left disappointed). Despite these contrasting opinions regarding the overall effectiveness of the events, there was agreement between participants that these events could be improved.

Recommendations

Participants in the study identified three main areas for improvement in the workshops, in the CoP more generally, and in the university as an employer, as follows:

  1. Consistent communication from the Teaching and Wellbeing Community of Practice about events and activities, including reminder emails;
  2. Clearly defined scope and focus for the CoP and for workshops/events, in order to a) ensure its attendees have accurate expectations when attending and thus leave satisfied with the value created by events, and b) prepare the CoP to balance the needs of attendees who are already passionate and knowledgeable about mental health on campus with the needs of attendees who require introductory level resources and information;
  3. Greater support on an institutional level (for example, decreased workload) to allow faculty to engage in workshops/events as well as in individual efforts to support their own wellbeing and that of their students.

Directions for future research

As with any exploratory study of this size, our study has limitations. Specifically, the small sample size of our study challenges the external validity of its results, preventing the generalization of findings. Furthermore, our study occurred over a time frame of six months, in which there were five wellness events. Unfortunately, none of our participants were able to attend all of these events. Therefore, we are unable to assess the true impact that may have came with consistent and prolonged attendance. Lastly, our study only assessed the impact of the wellness events hosted by the CoP and it is acknowledged that this is just one of the ways in which the CoP works to promote mental health and wellness on campus.

Future research can expand on this study by addressing these limitations through a larger sample size and the inclusion of other aspects of the CoP in its evaluation.

Works Cited

Alves, P. C., Oliveira, A. D., & Paro, H. (2019). Quality of life and burnout among faculty members:

How much does the field of knowledge matter?Plos One, 14(3), e0214217.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0214217

American College Health Association. (2017). American College Health Association-National

College Health Assessment Fall 2017 Reference Group Executive Summary. Retrieved from:https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-II_FALL_2017_REFERENCE_GROUP_EXECUTIVE_SUMMARY.pdf

American College Health Association. (2013). American College Health Association-National

College Health Assessment II: Ontario Province Reference Group executive summary spring 2013. Retrieved from http://www.oucha.ca/pdf/2013_Refer- ence_Group_Exec_Summary.pdf

Canadian Association of College & University Student Services and Canadian Mental Health

Association. (2013). Post-Secondary Student Mental Health: Guide to a Systemic Approach.

Vancouver, BC. Retrieved from:

https://healthycampuses.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/The-National-Guide.pdf

Center for Mental Health and Addiction. (2019). Mental Illness and Addiction: Facts and Statistics. Retrieved from:

https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/the-crisis-is-real/mental-health-statistics

DiPlacito-DeRango, M. L. (2016). Acknowledge the barriers to better the practices: Support for

student mental health in higher education. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7(2), 1-14. doi:10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2016.2.2

Government of Canada. (2015). Mental Illness. Retrieved from:

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/mental-illness.html

Hsieh, H., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative

Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. doi:10.1177/1049732305276687

Lackritz, J. R. (2004). Exploring burnout among university faculty: Incidence, performance, and

demographic issues. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(7), 713-729.

doi:10.1016/j.tate.2004.07.002

Sabagh, Z., Hall, N. C., & Saroyan, A. (2018). Antecedents, correlates and consequences of faculty

burnout. Educational Research, 60(2), 131-156. doi:10.1080/00131881.2018.1461573

Storrie, K., Ahern, K., & Tuckett, A. (2010). A systematic review: Students with mental health

problems-A growing problem. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 16(1), 1-6. doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01813.x

Watts, J., & Robertson, N. (2011). Burnout in university teaching staff: A systematic literature

review. Educational Research, 53(1), 33-50. doi:10.1080/00131881.2011.552235

Retrieved from "https://wiki.ubc.ca/index.php?title=Communities_of_Practice_as_a_Tool_to_Promote_Wellbeing_on_Campus&oldid=561878"