CAT
Campus Assessment Tool
2021
In the project’s third year, 2020-21, ten chapters completed the tool:
Trent University, University of Toronto St. George Campus (UTSG), Bishop’s University, Camosun College, University of Guelph, University of Windsor, University of New Brunswick St. John Campus (UNBSJ), Dalhousie University Truro Campus, Ryerson University, and Lakehead University.
Introduction
Introduction
Documentation of each campus's mental health services, policies, and practices
Highlights key strengths and gaps of the campus’ mental health systems using a case study approach with a small cohort of campuses
Students who participate in the project gain valuable leadership experience and skills by conducting research, advocacy planning and relationship building with decision makers.
Student advocates will gain a better sense of the issues students on their campus are facing and will be able to use the data to improve their advocacy
Students will receive a reference letter from Jack.org and will be credited in the National CAT Report
Introduction
Students collect data regarding service availability, campus characteristics, student health insurance plan, etc.
Students interview staff from counseling centre and student services to document wait times, centre processes, academic accommodations and gain a deeper understanding of policies and practices regarding mental health and well-being.
Jack.org staff complete one page summaries for campuses and draft CAT report.
Students meet with Jack.org staff to reflect on early findings and next steps.
Student survey under development. Students will be consulted on survey design and content.
Ethics application for student survey sent in to participating campuses. Students can be involved in this process if they’d like.
Students utilize findings from the CAT to inform their advocacy + collaborate with campus decision makers/stakeholders to improve mental health landscape.
Survey sent out to the student body. Survey will be analyzed by Jack.org and findings shared with student researchers and campuses.
Jack.org staff will draft evidence briefs for each campus, and National CAT Report, on which student researchers will be acknowledged.
Introduction
Across the ten CAT campuses this year, average wait times for accessing counselling services as reported by student wellness staff are 1.5 weeks for an initial appointment and two weeks for a follow-up appointment. For initial appointments, some campuses had wait times less than 24 hours, whereas the campuses with the longest wait times could be upwards of two weeks. For follow-up appointments, the shortest wait time could be within 24 hours, whereas the busier campuses had follow-up appointment wait times of eight weeks. Many service providers reported that demand fluctuates depending on the time of year, which directly influences wait times. Staff reported that wait times were typically highest during exam periods, when demand for mental health services increases.
Eight out of 10 campuses offer walk-in or same day appointments for those who need immediate help. At all 10 campuses, those who are experiencing a mental health crisis can be seen immediately or on the same day.
Students continue to cite wait times as the most significant barrier to accessing services. 67% of surveyed students who have not accessed services in the past year do not feel that the services they need would be available in a timely manner. Improving wait times should continue to be a focus of post-secondary campuses across the country.
The national average insurance coverage for mental health services was $680 for the 2020–21 school year. The average coverage per session was 80%, meaning that the average student would pay 20% of the cost of an off-campus session out of their own pocket.
Seven out of the 10 campuses that participated in the CAT this year have a mental health strategy. A mental health strategy is a document that provides a strategic plan and guidance regarding student mental health on campus, and the institution’s high-level action plan to recognize and respond to growing student mental health concerns. Over the three years the CAT has been conducted, a greater proportion of the studied campuses have adopted mental health policies in each subsequent year, which might indicate increasing attention to and a growing need for strategic alignment on student mental health issues.
Seven out of the 10 campuses that participated in the CAT this year have a mental health strategy. A mental health strategy is a document that provides a strategic plan and guidance regarding student mental health on campus, and the institution’s high-level action plan to recognize and respond to growing student mental health concerns. Over the three years the CAT has been conducted, a greater proportion of the studied campuses have adopted mental health policies in each subsequent year, which might indicate increasing attention to and a growing need for strategic alignment on student mental health issues.
Eight out of 10 campuses have a suicide response/postvention plan. These plans are essential in preventing suicides clusters, and mitigating other negative repercussions of a suicide in the community.
Mental health training is available at all 10 campuses and is mandatory for residence advisors across all campuses. These certifications remain optional for professors, staff, and students. Mental health training can increase a community’s capacity to respond to student mental health concerns, and continues to be an important piece in the protection of student mental health.
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
First and foremost, Jack.org would like to thank the Jack Chapter student researchers who completed the CAT on their campuses this year:
Alexa Gavrilidis
Anabelle Ng
Ashley MacLean
Britney Porter
Chloe Boutros
Claire Fullerton
Claudia Munafo
Don-Pierre Burnett
Doris Zhu
Dakota MacWilliams
Jake Frank
Jessica Landry
Karling Luciani
Katarina Kolobaric
Katerina Servello
Katie Ireland
Laura Iruegas
Lauren Larsen
Lauren Renaud
Nathaniel Oriecuia
Natnaiel Dubale
Nayab Khurshid
Olivia Sulja
Pooja Sankar
Richard Moore
Sabrina Mastroianni
Samin Barakati
Sonia Catalli
Victoria Zhang
Warda Noman
Their hard work is the reason this report exists, and we are extremely grateful for their dedication to improving mental health on their campuses. The 2021 Campus Assessment Tool Report was authored by Chelsea Cufaro and Stuart McHenry with the input and guidance of Holly Stanczak, as well as copy-editing support from Danielle Kinahan. Special thanks to Klara Vanzella Yang for her beautiful design work. Finally, we would like to thank Bell Let’s Talk and the Rossy Foundation for providing the funding that made this project possible.
Key Learnings
Having a clear, reliable, and robust system for mental health accommodations in the classroom is an important piece of student mental health promotion. Anecdotally, students who completed the CAT on their campuses noted that information was sometimes hard to find, and there is a strong desire for consistency in the way academic accommodations are granted and a preference for a centralized route through an academic accommodations office. For instance, various CAT participants have recommended including instructions for applying for academic accommodations in each course syllabus.
The findings regarding academic accommodations for mental health align with what the broader Jack.org youth network has been saaying. Input from the CAT student participants suggest that this ability to accomodate could go a step further by creating a more reliable, objective process for students who require accommodations.
Key Learnings
This year on participating CAT campuses, wait times averaged 1.5 weeks for non-urgent initial appointments and two weeks for a follow-up appointment, as reported by wellness centre staff. Wait times remain relatively consistent with the 2019/2020 CAT Report, when the average wait time for students who accessed services was 2.5 weeks. The number one reason both current service users (44%) and non-service users (35%) reported discomfort accessing in-person services was wait times (either from their experience or perceived).
Young people have called attention to these issues and the need for resources to address them, including across the Jack.org network. This year, students on participating CAT campuses found that many of their campuses have a wide range of general resources for these equity-seeking groups; however, mental health-specific resources are sometimes lacking, as seen below.
Although there are several similarities amongst those who reported accessing services in the past year and those who have not, there are several key distinctions amongst the two respondent pools. Those who have reported using services in the past year have different perceptions of those services than those who have not.
Findings indicate that service users generally have more positive perceptions of campus services. 61% of those who reported using services think of the services as high quality, whereas only 24% of those who reported not using services think of them as high quality. Similarly, 54% of service users report feeling as if the services would be responsive to their background and experiences, whereas only 35% of service non-users report feeling that way. Additionally, almost 50% of those who reported using services in the past year feel that the services would be accessible when they need them and meet their needs, whereas just over 30% of those who haven’t used services feel they would be accessible when needed and meet their needs.
Another salient distinction between the two respondent pools is the prevalence of stigma amongst peers. For those who reported accessing services, worry about judgment from peers was, at 26%, the fifth most mentioned reason they felt uncomfortable accessing services, whereas worry about judgment from peers was, at 33%, the third most mentioned reason for those who did not report using services in the past year.
While no major conclusions can be drawn from these preliminary data, they do suggest a need for more consultation and research involving those who don’t access services, as stigma and negative perceptions of the services continue to be associated with help-seeking behaviour amongst the student population.
This year, service users reported accessing 1:1 counselling services at a much higher rate than other services. Digital and in-person 1:1 counselling services were the top two services accessed by respondents, with 64% of service user respondents accessing digital counselling services and 36% of participants accessing in-person counselling services (likely due to COVID-19 restrictions). Nine of the participating campuses had phone counselling services and all campuses had video counselling services available this year, either directly through their counselling centre or provided via third party through student health insurance plans. Compared with previous years the CAT was conducted, students reported higher levels of satisfaction with counselling services alongside increased usage of digital 1:1 counseling during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should continue to monitor the provision of campus digital counselling to see if this remains a prevalent option, even as campuses transition back to in-person activities. With that, the data from this year’s tool suggests that providing students with the option to access counseling from remote locations is a positive development for the accessibility of student mental health care.
Although many students have been accessing counseling remotely, awareness and usage of other mental health resources remains quite low. Services other than 1:1 counselling accounted for only 24% of all services that respondents reported using in the past year. The demand for and usage of 1:1 counselling is substantially higher than all other services combined. Increased awareness of alternative options and their benefits should alleviate the strain on 1:1 counselling, especially when considering all campuses have a diversity of service options at their disposal. Eight out of the 10 participating campuses provide peer support programs, either virtual or in person, with volunteers generally trained in active listening and providing a safe and inclusive environment. These resources should not be seen as substitutes for one another, but instead exist as a suite of complementary options available for support. The promotion of peer support, along with the availability of other less intensive services, can significantly increase the accessibility of mental health support on campus. Increased student awareness of services other than typical 1:1 counselling service could help reduce wait times and increase accessibility.
Key Learnings
The CAT identifies several equity-seeking groups that have unique mental health needs and are often faced with a lack of appropriate resources or services to address their needs. Within the last year especially, there is a growing recognition of the additional mental health stressors faced by many members of these groups on the basis of their identity, including overt disicrimination, intergenerational trauma inflicted by colonialism and the legacy of the residential school system, and ongoing institutional and structural oppression.
Young people have called attention to these issues and the need for resources to address them, including across the Jack.org network. This year, students on participating CAT campuses found that many of their campuses have a wide range of general resources for these equity-seeking groups; however, mental health-specific resources are sometimes lacking, as seen below.
This year’s CAT reveals that many campuses are investing to respond to the unique mental health needs of equity-seeking groups, by either staffing counsellors and facilitators with intersectional and marginalized identities or providing counsellors and staff with cultural competency and intersectionality training. With that said, in the CAT survey, 35% of service users report feeling that the services are not responsive to their background or experiences. Much work remains to ensure mental health services are properly responding to the identities and lived experiences of students, but the data from this year’s tool does point to some positive developments.
Key Learnings
Students were asked to select the top three factors that contribute to mental health struggle for them. Their responses are displayed in the chart below.
According to survey respondents, the top three mental health stressors are academic stress, financial stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic. 63% of respondents reported academic stress as one of their top three mental health challenges, while 40% reported financial stress, and 20% the reported the COVID-19 pandemic as a major stressor. Moreover, 54% of respondents reported facing financial barriers.
