NCL Waiting Room colleague has paper published in leading health journal

Dr Rosa Town, Digital Community Manager for the NCL Waiting Room, has co-authored a research paper in leading healthcare research publication, the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy.

The aim of the research was to explore the experiences of health care professionals interacting with university students with mental health problems and to develop a better understanding of students’ access to mental health services.

By conducting a series of interviews with professionals working across university advice and counselling services, NHS general practice, crisis, and psychological services in North and East London, they found that access appears to be an increasingly intricate task for students, given the fragmented service landscape, surging demand for mental health care and challenges of emerging adulthood.

Their findings suggest that policy goals to increase use of mental health services are unlikely to improve outcomes for students without policy makers and health systems giving holistic consideration of inter-service relationships and available resources.

Read the full paper: University students’ access to mental health services: A qualitative study of the experiences of health service professionals through the lens of candidacy in England

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