COVENTRY UNIVERSITY

ACCESSIBILITY TO HEALTH AND WELL BEING SERVICE (Counselling)

INTRODUCTION

The Coventry University counselling team are continually seeking to improve its range of services and accessibility to all students. We aim to provide a service which is innovative in its delivery methods, ensuring students feel secure when engaging with our services and benefit as fully as possible from them. In order to achieve this goal it is essential to continually review the accessibility of the service by; consulting with students and their representatives SU; monitoring participation data and acting on feedback from service users. This strategy will be reviewed at the end of each academic year, by the counselling team and senior managers of the University.

Current accessibility limitations have been identified as

  1. Cultural Issues
  2. Part-time/Distance Learners and students on Placement
  3. Limited access to On-Line Booking system for students with Visual Impairment
  4. Low return rate of Service Evaluation forms

Cultural Issues / Actions taken
The student demographic at Coventry University has changed significantly over the past 6 years. International students currently make up over a half of the undergraduate student population. The University has been particularly successful in recruiting students from China, India and Nigeria.
Many international students do not understand the provision of medical and psychological services in the UK. / All Counselling staff attended 3 half day training sessions provided by an external agency raising awareness of pertinent issues relating to Chinese, Arabic, Nigerian and Indian cultures.
Working links have been established with the Pre-Sessional English Group and Workshops provided to students as they arrive. The majority of these students eventually enrol on Coventry University undergraduate courses. The exposure to the Counselling Team in a group environment dealing with issues such as cultural shock and home sickness is viewed as an important introduction to the work of the service, which may encourage student to Register for support in the future.
Strong working relationship has been established with the Internal Office Welfare Team. A representative of the counselling team attends the University Student Welfare Group which has a University wide Constitution, including SU and CUC. Issues that may impact on any particular group of students are raised at this group and follow up actions agreed.
Actions agreed for 2016-17 Academic Year
Workshops will be provided for new international students in particular Post Graduate students, dealing with issues relating to student life, homesickness etc.
Collection and analysis of data generated by on-line booking system, improved student evaluation forms and quick feedback terminals to inform future action plans.

Part-time/Distance Learners – students on Placement

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Actions taken

Many part-time learners have busy schedules involving, study, working and caring responsibilities. The need to condense learning into a one or two day programme sometimes results in students having limited time to engage with services.

Distance Learners often spend as little as two days on campus during their University studies. Some are not based in the UK. / The University has subscribed to the on-line support service provided by the Big White Wall. This support is available 24/7 and can be accessed by any student who is currently enrolled at Coventry University, from any location including those on placement abroad.
Twilight sessions have been made available to open up the service to students who are unable to attend during day time hours.
Advice regarding referral to external agencies together with publicity leaflets and web addresses is available to both students and academic staff.
Actions Agreed for 2016-17 Academic Year

Continuation of subscription to Big White Wall, with priority given to students who experience difficulties accessing the service on campus. Development and introduction of Health and Wellbeing App providing easy access information and links to both internal and external providers. Promotion of Social Media Health and Wellbeing, Facebook and Twitter feeds to encourage peer support and alleviate isolation.

Access to on-line book for students with Visual Impairment

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Actions taken

The on-line booking system which enables students to book appointments 24/7 was introduced in 2015-16 This has been widely welcomed by students. However, students with Visual Impairments using certain assistive technologies such as screen readers have found the system difficult to use. / Any student reporting a difficulty with the booking system has been offered support of administrative staff to ensure they are able to access the service.
Software provider has been alerted to the difficulty.
Actions Agreed for 2016-17 Academic Year
Continued liaison with Software provider to ensure that the system is enhanced and reviewed to provide full access to all students.

Low return rate of Evaluation Forms

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Actions taken

The return rate for Evaluation Forms has fallen over the past two years. Student evaluation is important to assess student satisfaction and provide data for planning exercises. / Evaluation Form and process is under review. Investigation of methods used by other HE Institutions has been carried out and data received has been considered as part of the review exercise.
Actions Agreed for 2016-17 Academic Year
A new Evaluation Form will be introduced at the beginning of the academic year. All students will be asked to complete a form at the end of the first session. A new quick “Touch Screen” evaluation is being introduced for all Health and Wellbeing services. Students will be asked 5 questions about their experience on that particular day. The system will be reviewed at the end of term one (December 2016) and recommendations agreed and instigated for January 2017.

SERVICE EVALUATION STRATEGY (July 2016)

Review Date (July2017)

Service Manager