Results national survey on mental health and substance use published
The TU/e is a place where people matter. Our aim is to ensure that all students are aware of what wellbeing means, and that they feel empowered and enabled to take care of their wellbeing should they feel the need to. We continue to be committed to taking action towards this.
What is the RIVM and Trimbos monitor?
On the 30th of November, the RIVM and Trimbos institute published the results of the national monitor for mental health and substance use. The monitor was sent out to students in 24 higher educational institutions in the Netherlands in April 2023, including the TU/e.
The monitor measured areas such as mental wellbeing, psychological health, stress, drug and alcohol use and help seeking behavior.
What do the results say?
The results are mixed, showing that while often a majority of the population are feeling fine on all above mentioned areas, there are still a group of students that face challenges with regards to their mental health and substance use.
When looking at the results, we find it important to look into the fine print as well as the general scores, to ensure that we are getting a complete picture of the severity of the results.
That being said, unfortunately the national response rate was only 6,5%, which was not very high. Therefore, although the results give an indication of what some students are experiencing, they cannot be generalized to the entire student population.
What will we do with the results?
As a university, we are committed to continue taking action to ensure that we are able to support our students as best as possible. We have received the results from this monitor for our university specifically, and together with the results of our own student wellbeing monitor which was piloted in June 2023, this will serve as the basis for reflecting on our actions in the area of student wellbeing. We will do this together as a community - by taking along the student wellbeing chain with representatives of students and staff alike - to ensure the actions we take are as needs based and effective as possible.
What do we already do and where can you find support?
Over the past two years, we have already seen a lot of positive initiatives take place and are proud of the support we are able to offer. Wellbeing for both staff and students is one of our top strategic priorities, and we have taken multiple actions to ensure we work towards our goals, including the development and implementation of a student wellbeing policy, an alcohol policy including the signing of an alcohol covenant on the 4th of December 2023, a social safety plan and more.
Additionally we work hard to ensure we are able to offer our students a variety of support sources. These range from online wellbeing courses via our wellbeing course platform & peer support opportunities, to support via our guidance professionals. If you are in doubt of which source of support is most suitable to your concerns, take a look at our flowchart, or feel free to contact your academic advisor for further guidance and information.
The TU/e is a place where people matter, and as a community we aim to support and look after one another. We take this very seriously in the follow-up of this report, and hope you do so to in the way you look after yourself and others. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas you would like to share, please don’t hesitate to contact us via info@tue.nl.