Participatory mental health promotion research on a diverse urban campus: Identifying and mobilizing resources for educational success and wellness

Nontraditional university students struggle with more than their fair share of burdens to their educational achievement, health and wellness. Urban, primarily ethnic minority, immigrant, and working class commuter students embody risks associated with racial, ethnic, gender and socioeconomic disparities in health and mental health, including high rates of exposure to gendered and community violence, poverty, and discrimination. Yet biomedical approaches fail to contextualize stressors and mobilize resources. This presentation reports on a Community Based Participatory research project conceptualized using ecosystemic models and participatory methods in health promotion to identify personal and community resources promoting resilience and recovery. The research explored realistic stressors students faced, protective factors associated with resilience, and resources promoting wellness and educational success. Steps in collaborative research included open forums, a student-centered needs assessment, and an anonymous online survey in which students self-reported on their health & well-being, academic and psychosocial stressors, resources they currently use and barriers to resource use in campus and community. The survey results (N=960; 50% non-white participants) found students experienced high rates of realistic and life events stressors, with 30% reporting means on the Hopkins symptom checklist equal to or above those found in clinical populations. Yet these students work on average 30 hours a week, carry responsibilities for children and family members, keep up their grades, and sustain hope. A student-centered CBPR seminar was created to review findings, present these in a campus-wide forum, and design a peer navigators program emphasizing empowerment and resource rights in mobilizing health promotion resources.