Health and Social Care at University

Health and social care is important for everyone; and in particular for university students. Such a diverse range of people requires careful attention to ensure that every individual feels that their needs are met. But is this the case?

When we first started university last year, never having been to Portsmouth before, we were pleasantly surprised by the range of services that the university provides and their close proximity to both halls of residence and the main campus buildings. From the doctor’s surgery and dentist to the chaplaincy service, we felt welcomed by the university and that they cared about the individual as an asset. The university provides health and social care support that make us feel that we are more valuable than mere students, they send a positive message that they care about us as future investments by providing support services to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of every single student.

Saying that however, we feel that despite the good range of health and social care sessions, from drug awareness to sexual health advice, some improvements need to be made. We feel that these sessions are not advertised enough, ask any student and they will not be able to tell you when or where the sessions are run. Further, many will feel too embarrassed or intimidated to go, despite some positive promotion by the university. Arguably many students feel uncomfortable discussing these sensitive issues with anyone, and this is exacerbated by staff that seem to be unconcerned and when the first blunt question is about Chlamydia!

On the other hand, some services such as the chaplaincy have proven themselves to be a god’s send (excuse the pun!). It is of great comfort to know that these services are there for you whenever you need them, and that the support they provide is confident and will be provided with genuine care towards your wellbeing as an individual. Although the doctor’s could be improved to have a link up with the local surgeries and the registration process seems needlessly long, they are quick to give out appointments at times that suit you.

In conclusion, the university does address health and social care issues with some success. These services could be improved to make them more accessible to students, however as a whole they are successful. Article by Leanne Earnshaw.

What are the Health and Social Care needs of Students studying in Portsmouth?

Being trendy, pretty, smart, a good student, sporty, a party animal, cool, special, always online (facebook), experienced in work and travelling and so on... These are all things which a student has to be today.

There are lots of students who lose themselves by doing things which “people just do today”. They forget their own preferences and don’t know what they really want to do in their life. It is often very difficult to know limits and boundaries especially when a person is in a new environment.

With all these social expectations to achieve, students may be driven to search for “non-thinking-times” maybe by being tempted to drink alcohol or even worse being tempted to experiment with drugs. Family, friends, self-doubts or unachievable goals can be a compelling reason to escape in what can be addictive pastimes.

The question is, how can we get students to speak about their health and social care concerns? It takes a lot of courage to speak about uncomfortable topics. So there should be a way to encourage students to say what they’re thinking. This might also be an opportunity to find other people who struggle with similar problems.

The Portsmouth LINk Blog is an internet resource which provides students (and all residents of Portsmouth) with a forum to discuss health and social care issues they face. This gives students the opportunity to influence health and social care services which in turn might improve those services which support students.

Students need a forum where they can speak about their health and social care concerns without being judged. They need people to help them make the best of their situation by listening, empathizing and taking forward the issues which are important to students. The Local Involvement Network (LINk) is such a forum and will provide for as much participation and involvement as a student has time for.

But you should never forget: Change is only possible if you want to change something in your own right. Article written by Lucia Pescatore.

Freshers Fayre

The Community Engagement Team spent two days at the University of Portsmouth’s Freshers Fayre event held last week (Wednesday 21/09/2011 and Thursday 22/09/2011). This event always involves hundreds of students and is always a good opportunity to promote the Local Involvement Network. It has to be said that getting students interested in Health and Social Care during one of the most exhilarating points in their life can be difficult. Despite this, many students were interested in the LINk and took away contact details with a keen interest to become involved. An idea was hit upon that a student might be interested in contributing an article to the LINk Blog which put forward a “Student’s View” about Health and Social Care interests. This formed the basis of an engagement approach and attracted a fair number of promises. One Student, Lucia Pescatore, took the offer very seriously, and has produced a short and very relevant article putting across her view of the way a Student might regard Health and Social Care when embarking upon a university degree with all the dramatic changes in circumstances that is demanded by such a commitment. This article is reproduced as a separate Blog Article (view article by Lucia Pescatore).