Dans un article du Globe and Mail signalé par ma collègue Sonia Morin, Joe Henry, doyen associé au succès étudiant du Sheridan College, s’interroge sur les impacts du soutien que les institutions universitaires apportent aux étudiants atteints de maladies mentales.
“While our role should be to promote positive mental health and well-being, the impact this has on our academic mission and mandate has to be examined. Ultimately, we should be part of a treatment solution, but we cannot solely be responsible as a treatment facility, which is what many who I work with in the postsecondary sector are feeling.”
Il ne remet pas en question le fait que les universités doivent être des partenaires du réseau de la santé en matière de santé mentale, mais il s’interroge sur la façon dont elles peuvent le mieux jouer ce rôle. Il donne notamment deux exemples de situations qui lui semblent problématiques: les diagnostics associés au stress relatif à la vie universitaire et la référence de patients libérés par les hôpitaux qui les envoient consulter les services psychologiques offerts aux étudiants.
…[I]n the last 10 years, counselling and health services at campuses have seen an exponential rise in the number of students who need help. […] …[S]ome reports suggest usage rates are being driven up by lack of resilience in students to self-manage and the shortage of available and affordable supports in the community.”
“Students are often discharged from hospital or from other providers with referral to counselling on campus. In many cases, these services have not been set up to address these referrals because they operate on a solutions-focused model, not a long-term therapeutic model.”
Il estime que les universités ont surtout un rôle à jouer dans l’accompagnement à gérer le stress étudiant (” The life of a student can be difficult, but too often we are quick to label with a diagnosis instead of teaching strategies to live, learn and manage the day to day challenges.”) et à l’identification d’objectifs de vie et de carrière qui favorise une existence saine et heureuse.
Source: Henry, Joe, “Campuses cannot be a treatment facility for students under stress“, Education – The Globe and Mail, 29 avril 2014
